Shadow Wars: Windy City
by Quill of Molliemon
Summary: AU A kinda dark look at a possible universe with mutants and the darker parts of human society. Pairings: see profile. Epilogue What happens to Kurt when he returns to his base? R&R plz
1. Introduction

Disclaimer:  I don't own X-Men: Evolution.....Nuts!

Authors Notes:  The above disclaimer applies to the whole story; I refuse to rewrite it for each chapter.  Also I don't respond to reviews in my story, sorry, but I do read and appreciate them so please review.  This is and Alternate Universe set in the present day/near future world with a few little changes here and there of course.  Now here is a little introduction to set things up, the actual story will begin next chapter, so enjoy!

***Introduction*******

            No one believes that Mutants are real.  They are the stuff of urban legends and tabloid papers. They are the stuff of nightmares and campfire stories.  They live in the rantings of insane men and the imaginations of children.  But they aren't real.  Nothing like Mutants could ever really exist, not in the real world.  Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, aliens, these things have a greater chance of being real than Mutants.  Mutants belong in the realm of fantasy with the dragons and unicorns, not the real world.  This is what humanity believes, this is what society decrees.  So no wonder there was panic and fear when the world learned the truth.  Mutants _are real._

            There were the riots and the protests all over the world, of course.  And also the widespread fear and suspicion, who knew who was a mutant and who wasn't?  Who knew what the mutants would do?  What they are capable of?  No one wants to live near a Mutant, work with one, go to school with one.  It was like the Red Scare of the Cold War all over again, only instead of Communists the threat has become Mutants.  No one could be fully trusted; anyone could be one of them.  But if you think it was bad for normal humans, then it was pure Hell for the Mutants themselves.  One day you could be a normal teenager, the next you could find yourself a Mutant.  Suddenly all your friends leave you, your family fears you, society shuns you.  Jobs are lost, lives are ruined, and fear and hatred breed and spread.

            Here the domino effect takes hold.  A person loses their job, their friends, their family, their life essentially.  They become isolated, alone, depressed maybe; they sink out of society and into the shadows.  They begin to question why this is, why things are this way, why people hate them so.  And this questioning can eventually lead to bitterness, resentment, anger, and rage.  Some chose to turn against the society that threw them away, inflicting their revenge on whoever they can.  

            But some humans found a way to take advantage of this hatred, violence, and pain.  Drug gangs, crime lords, and corrupt politicians found these Mutants very useful indeed.  They became bodyguards and hit-men to their new bosses, earning good money and enjoying.  Soon others who were not as violent or hateful stepped forward for the jobs, they were desperate for money and this was the best way to get it.  The bosses and politicians were only too happy to provide them with this in exchange for their 'jobs'.  And so the underworld grew stronger and stronger, and with Mutants involved things were just that much worse.  Most police forces and government agencies couldn't stand up to that, and the few that could were largely ineffective.  So what were the forces of law and justice to do?  The answer was simple, fight fire with fire.

            America was the first, offering registered Mutants jobs in law enforcement, the armed forces, and some government positions.  Not long after this all sorts of countries from world powers to third world nations joined in.  Every country suddenly had to have them and Mutants became a hot commodity.  Not only were Mutants offered jobs in visible places, they were also given a chance to work in the realms of shadow, behind the scenes.  They entered secret worlds hidden from the general public, the land of black ops. and hidden agencies, places that, like Mutants, were relegated to the pages of tabloids.

            And there was a third group apart from the legal and illegal, the independents.  Mutant mercenary groups who will work for whoever pays them enough, but they are usually not associated with either side; the major exceptions being Charles Xavier's 'X-Men' and Magneto's 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants'.  The X-Men usually side with the government, while the Brotherhood is committed to subjugating all of humanity, which brings them into conflict with the X-Men on a regular basis.

            With this explosion of employment for Mutants there were more protests of course.  People felt Mutants were stealing jobs from honest, hard-working, _normal_ individuals.  This increased tensions between both sides.  Riots and hate crimes against Mutants continued to increase by the day and there was no end in sight.  It took a lot of time, money, and effort on the part of several powerful countries and companies to stem the tide of violence.  Even with this, however, the tension remained, waiting to explode with the tiniest provocation.  Perhaps it will always remain dangerous to be a Mutant, but they don't let it bother them too much.  Most Mutants just try and live their lives as best they can and they try not to let humans ruin it for them.  This is how the world works today, the Cold War has been reborn into the Shadow Wars, and Mutants are the secret weapons.


	2. DX0

***Chapter 1***

**~DX-0~**

            Memories can be a curse.  True they have their uses, just about everything does.  They are a record of all that has happened to a single individual; both failures and successes are remembered for the future.  Memories play a role in shaping an individual, they effect decisions and perceptions.  But memories can hurt.  They fuel phobias and prejudices, the past torments the future.  Memories can also remind one of what they once had, now have lost, and will never have again.  These hurt the most.

            Emotions can be a handicap.  True they evolved as a survival tool and can be quite useful.  Fear and love ensure survival of the individual and the species.  But emotions can also take a dark turn.  Anger and hate are destructive.  All emotions cloud the mind and twist perceptions and ideas.  They rule the individual and the society.  They are a part of life.  Without them a person is not considered to be truly alive.

            Life is short and brutal.  A lifetime for an individual is barely the blink of an eye to the lifetime of a planet, just as the lifetime of a planet is short compared to the lifetime of the universe.  The life of a living thing is swift and brutal.  The need for food, water, and shelter drives all life.  Species evolve and become extinct when they cannot change fast enough.  The law of survival rules all: eat or be eaten, kill or be killed.  Something could be born only to die a short time later.  That is just the way things are.

            Pain is a constant part of existence.  Without pain how can one be sure that one is alive?  Pain is a signal that something is wrong.  It is a tool that teaches life what is bad.  Without pain what is pleasure?  In a world without pain what would be used to measure happiness, pleasure?  As long as one is alive there will always be pain.  If one does not feel pain then they are not alive.

            Humans are a paradox.  Take one look at history and it all becomes clear.  There is a desire for peace yet a love of war.  Different sides blame each other and believe they alone are in the right.  War after war after war since the dawn of the species this is the norm.  Ideologies from every point of view clash with one another and lead to ever greater conflict and violence.  People make promises to win power and break them to keep it.  They are encouraged to share what they have with others but the greed is how they get more.  Being truthful is encouraged yet the only way to get ahead is to lie, to bend and twist the truth.  Say one thing but do another that is the way of humans.

            These are five things that DX-0 knew to be completely and wholly true.  In all his 17 years of life, he had yet to see one thing to disprove these truths.  Not that he could say he cared much about it; that was life and he wasn't dead yet so he had to put up with it.  Perhaps if he had been allowed to lead a normal life he wouldn't think this way, but anything that could be considered normal in his life ended on his eighth birthday.  Not that what happened before was really normal.  But that didn't matter anymore.  Nothing really mattered.  If only he could fully let go of life then everything would end.  But something held him back, insisted he live, that he survive.  Perhaps in his case the survival instinct itself was a curse.

            The only refuge he had was routine.  Without it he would have gone mad long ago, or maybe he would have simply died.  Damn his refuge then, death was an escape he wouldn't mind one bit.  Damn purpose too, that was a reason to live and unfortunately he had one.  His purpose, his personal one anyway, was to please his Handlers, make them happy, and do whatever they say without struggle.  That's all he really did anymore.  All the missions, all the training, it was all to make them happy, all to escape the threat of pain.  

            Pain, he didn't know why he worried so much about it.  If he suffered enough he might die and then he would escape.  But pain is a survival tool.  When it hurts, he gives in.  It's the main way that he and others like him are controlled.  Heck it's the way all life is controlled, humans especially.  The reason he needed the refuge of routine was to escape from pain, the pain of loneliness and monotony, the pain of his life as it is now.  Life is pain, pain is life.  That's how the world works, especially DX-0's world.

            Funny how he didn't even think of himself with his given name anymore, he was just DX-0, nothing more, nothing less.  Or maybe it wasn't funny.  DX-0 neither knew nor cared.  That name was full of old and painful memories and he avoided any kind of pain, real or imagined.  The others still insisted on using their names behind the Handlers' backs, DX-0 never really saw the point.  It was a foolish act of rebellion that held no meaning for him.  They asked his name once but he never answered.  They didn't talk to him much after that, not that he'd ever answered them.  There wasn't any point to talking so he didn't unless he was required to by his Handlers.

            He was the Handlers favorite.  Perfectly obedient and unquestioning, say jump and he'd jump.  He didn't give them trouble like the others did.  He was the 'Good Boy', he never misbehaved.  The Handlers were a varied lot, some were cruel, and others were kind.  They were chosen because they were skilled, loyal, and unquestioning, like he was only with personality.  Some tried to get a reaction out of him, they teased, taunted, and tormented him but it never did anything.  Others seemed to pity him, they acted kindly towards him but again it never did anything.  They'd all given up long ago.

            There was a knock on his door.  DX-0 wearily picked himself off his cot and stood at attention waiting for the Handlers to either come in or call him out.  He didn't have to wait long.  The plain steel door opened slowly with a faint creak as his Handler, Juli, entered.  She'd been in the military before she was injured and now she worked here.  That's the story of most of the Handlers, they got hurt and this was one of the few options left.  She studied him with icy precision, looking for anything amiss.  She'd never liked him, why that was he didn't know, but she always looked for the tiniest reason to harass him.  But he didn't care, not much affected him anymore.

            "[DX-0, you are to report to the recreation center for your 'free time'.]"  Juli snapped; she was probably angry that she found nothing to harass him with.

            DX-0 simply nodded and proceeded to follow his orders however pointless they may be.  He traveled down the colorless corridors with his Handler a few steps behind.  It was time for their 'free time', a few hours each day where all of the DXs went to the recreation center to do just about whatever they wished.  DX-0 didn't see why he had to go, he never did anything except sit and watch.  The whole thing was most likely set up for the others to help keep them in line; he'd never had such a thing when he first came.  He was DX-0, the first Mutant collected, everyone else came much later.  He was the best Mutant that his government had to offer, highly trained and obedient, that's why his number is 0.

            But despite being called the best he had been sent on the fewest missions.  The most likely reason for this was his appearance.  All the others looked perfectly human; they could pass for one without batting an eyelash.  He did not look human, not at all.  If he walked out of the Facility without any kind of disguise he would be instantly labeled a demon or monster and run out of human society.  Maybe he wasn't a Mutant at all but a demon instead.  Not that it would affect him.  It would only affect those around him.  People who still were completely alive inside.

            All too soon he and his Handler arrived at the doors leading to the recreation center.  Juli left him at the door as he entered the spacious room.  His entrance killed any conversation between the other Mutants.  They regarded him with wary disgust, watching him as he sat on a worn out couch.  DX-0 then fixed his empty gaze on the small TV, numbly watching some infomercial about cook-ware.  Once they were sure he wasn't paying attention to them they began to talk again.  That's how it always went, he came in, they shut up, he watched TV, they began to talk again, and it never, ever changed.  This went on for three hours until the Handlers called them back to their 'rooms' or off for some training.

            His life hadn't always been this way.  He had a life once outside of this sterile government Facility.  But no more, it had all ended on his birthday nine years ago.  Even if he could find his way back home they would only find him again.  And if for some reason they left him alone what kind of life could he live?  He didn't look human, beyond his foster family who would accept him?  Who could?  He'd never find a job, who knew what level his education was at, and people hated Mutants.  There was no getting around that fact.  And after living in this soulless place for so long he doubted he could fully function in the outside world.  True he could put up a decent act of normalcy when the situation called for it, but how long he could keep it up was the question.

            The hours drifted by, DX-0 eyes never left the TV screen, and the other DXs never stopped talking.  They would sometimes laugh at some joke or funny story but mostly they would speak in quiet tones as if they were afraid of being overheard.  DX-0 thought that was pretty stupid thing to worry about, of course their Handlers and Superiors were listening.  So what was the point of trying to hide what they were saying?  He didn't see one.  But maybe his view was due to the fact that he didn't really care anymore.  Before he could think up anymore depressing thoughts there was an interruption in the routine.

            "[DX-0 you are to report to General Grün's office immediately.]"  The loudspeaker blared.  For the second time that day all conversation ceased and all eyes turned to fixate on the Mutant in question.  Despite this sudden surprise DX-0 calmly rose from the broken-down couch and silently made his way to the door.  The only reason for such a summons was that he had a mission to complete.  _Oh well, I guess things won't be routine for a while.  Verdammt._


	3. Briefing

***Chapter 2***

**~Briefing~**

            General Grün was not a happy man.  On paper he was a powerful man, but in reality he had little power at all.  He was the commanding officer of Germany's secret operations, specifically the Mutant division.  He oversaw all projects and missions conducted in this facility, and he was responsible for all their successes and failures.  So far there had been no significant failures, this program was one of the most successful, but that wasn't why he was upset.  It was this latest mission that really bothered him.

            Normally he chose who went on what mission, but there were times when his political masters decided they knew best and made the choice for him.  This was one of them.  Not only was it incredibly stupid of them but it was dangerous.  It was his job to decide who was best suited for what and keep certain individuals from being overstrained but the politicians had no knowledge of or concern for these things.  There were times when they had chosen the wrong person for the mission.  One time they had decreed that Agent DX-5 should go on a swift infiltration mission when she was most useful at long-term undercover operations.  She managed to pull it off but it was a very close thing.  But this particular mission was the worst yet, a disaster in the making.

            They wanted DX-0 to be put on a joint mission with some American forces involving some organized crime in Chicago, and it looked to be a long-term undercover type of operation.  This had major failure written all over it.  DX-0 was the absolute worst Agent imaginable for the job.  He was barely useable for most infiltration missions; he was bettered suited for secret military operations than anything else.  His strange and unique appearance was one major factor and his emotionless behavior was the other.  Disguising him was a difficult task to say the least, the best and only solution was to use a complex and high-tech hologram system that made him appear perfectly human.  Its only flaw was a major one; the hologram took care of his looks but not his 'feel'.  If someone were to touch his 'skin' they would instead feel fur and it would blow his cover.  

            And then there was the issue of his behavior.  General Grün wasn't the first to command this unit; he inherited command from General Schwarzbaum, a real mental case.  Grün wondered how the Hell such a man rose to such a rank with the problems he had.  To this day the man still claimed that Hitler had good ideas and should've won the war.  The man also had a twisted view on what made a good soldier and DX-0 was the result.  He had beaten the soul out of that boy and left him an empty shell of a person.  DX-0 was a soulless robot, doing exactly what he was told, no more, no less.  And unfortunately there was little Grün could do about it.

            Combine these two things with the unknown variable of this American team.  It was impossible to know what they were like, how they did things, and how DX-0 would react to it all.  No matter how he looked at the situation it was bad.  Americans were the worst thing for this boy, the culture shock alone could cause him to snap or function poorly.  Damn the politicians, when this went bad they would shoulder him with the blame when it was their error, not his, that was the root of the problem.  But he was powerless in this matter, they wanted DX-0 to be attached to this mysterious American team for this mission and that was that.  Before he could further contemplate the idiocy of government heads and how bad this was all going to end DX-0 arrived for his briefing.

            "[Ah, there you are DX-0, how are you today?]"  The General asked in an attempt to get the tiniest reaction out of him.  He was again disappointed; DX-0 simply nodded an affirmative, staring blankly at the wall behind Grün.  "[Of course, you're always fine aren't you?]"  The General sighed.  _So much for that._  _Well down to business then.  The General began to pace to better organize his thoughts._

            "[Let's get this over with.  DX-0, our government has been asked by the Americans for assistance and we are to give it to them.  They have discovered a possible organized crime ring that has ties to both American and German groups.  The center of this ring is believed to be the American city of Chicago.  This group is believed to traffic drugs, illegal weapons, and stolen vehicles as well as other, more violent activities.  Your mission will be to learn as much as you can about the target group, their operations and high ranking members.  You have an unlimited span of time to complete your objectives so be cautious, take as long as necessary to insure safety and success.  The best way to gather such information is to do a long-term infiltration of the organization through some of its front businesses but don't get in too deep or you might not be able to get out easily.  Another part of this mission involves an American team of Agents.  Their mission is the same as yours and you are to help them in any way that is needed.  They are mainly to investigate the American side of this group while you are to focus on the German element.  Are you clear on this so far?]"  The General asked, pausing his pacing as he awaited the Mutant's response.  Again DX-0 nodded an affirmative, he understood.  Grün resumed his pacing and continued where he left off.

            "[In approximately one week you will board a flight for New York City with your Handler Juli.  From there you will catch the connecting flight to Chicago itself alone while Juli will return to base.  When you arrive in Chicago the American team will pick you up and the mission will begin.  They will make all major decisions since you are a guest in their homeland, obey and respect them as you would a superior.  They will provide you with all other necessary information when you arrive and you are encouraged to begin the mission as soon as you are ready.  I would like to give you information on this American team but I have none.  They will have to make first contact with you so wait near your gate for them at the airport; they will take you from there.  Are we clear on this?]"  Grün asked once again, pausing for confirmation.  Again the Mutant nodded the affirmative.

            "[Good, DX-0 you are dismissed.  You may return to your quarters now.]"  The General grumbled, dismissing the young Agent with a wave of his hand.  DX-0 obediently turned and exited the office and headed back to his empty, gray room.  Grün sighed as he lowered himself back down into his chair and absently shuffled some manila folders scattered across his desk.  "_Warum __mich__?"  He muttered to himself.  __Why me?_

***

            DX-0 sank limply onto his plain cot inside of his cold, gray room.  The mission briefing had taken up the last of his 'free time', oh well.  It didn't really matter.  What did matter was that he had a new mission to complete.  His training would be modified to better prepare him for it of course.  That's how it always was, get a mission, undergo special training, complete the mission, and return to the old routine.  But this mission seemed different from his others.  And it actually bothered him.  That hadn't happened in a long time.

            For one thing his Handler Juli would only go half-way with him which was highly unusual.  She normally went as far with him as the temporary base of operations for his missions.  This would be the first time he'd be so disconnected from his chain of command while on a mission.  He would be under the supervision of a group of strangers who knew nothing about him and vice versa.  That would make things rather difficult for him.  He would've preferred Juli come with him to make sure things ran smoothly between him and the Americans, but no such luck.

            And for another thing he would be sent to a foreign land of which he had limited knowledge on.  He would be required to speak English, one of the most mixed-up and backward languages on the planet, most of the time.  And he was completely in the dark about American culture.  This American team would probably have to spend their first week with him teaching him all the things he'd need to know.  That was nothing that he was looking forward to.  This was going to be a very long and difficult mission to be sure.

            Then there was the question of why he was selected for this operation and not one of the other DX Agents.  They had skills and appearances more suited than he for this sort of thing.  He couldn't have physical contact with any one outside his mission or risk blowing his cover and he was quite aware of his social deficiencies.  None of the others had such drawbacks associated with them and they had more experience than he did with long-term operations.  The only reason he could fathom for his selection was that Grün's political masters had made it for him.  They wanted to show off their highest trained Agent to the Americans, a show of power, that's all it was.

            The Agent who really should've been chosen to do this was DX-1.  He had all sorts of experience in any kind of secret operation imaginable.  He was older and more experienced than DX-0 was and was better traveled too.  He spoke fluent English and Russian in addition to his native language and was rumored to have done operations all over the world.  And he didn't have a Handler.  Unlike all the other Agents of this Facility he was the only one who willingly volunteered for this.  The other Agents, aside from himself, were former delinquents, career criminals who happened to be Mutants.  It was either work for the government or rot in jail.  Too late they realized there wasn't any appreciable difference between the two.

            DX-0's sluggish musings were interrupted by the call to dinner.  He slowly picked himself up and made his way to the mess hall.  He did as he always did.  Took his place in line, received his dinner, and sat in his seat eating silently.  The other Agent's conversation was unusually animated tonight, probably because of his summons during 'free time'.  They made all sorts of outlandish speculations on what he was to do this time.  The other DXs never bothered to ask him personally, he'd never bother to answer.  Once he was finished Juli escorted him back to his cell of a room like always and locked the door for the night once he was inside.

            Again the young Mutant slumped down on his bed, this time to sleep and turned to face the gray brick wall.  As he slipped off to sleep his thoughts briefly revisited his latest mission.  It was definitely different, but how different remained to be seen.  He'd just have to wait and see how things played out.  His mind emptied of all conscious thought and he slid into a dreamless sleep, just like he always did.  DX-0 never dreamed anymore.  He never had a reason to.  He had lost all hope.  So what was the point?


	4. Shadowcat

***Chapter 3***

**~Shadowcat~**

            Sleep is an escape.  In this state devoid of conscious thought reality warps into dreams, nightmares, or nothingness.  Sleep is life's escape from the harshness of the real world.  Dreams are a vacation for the mind, a trip to the subconscious free of the laws of physics and reality.  Nightmares put things into perspective showing that life really isn't all that bad and tomorrow is another day.  And dreamless sleep is a reprieve from the chaos and pain of daily life, empty but appreciated.  Sleep is not only life's escape but it is necessary for survival, without it life would be much shorter and far more unpleasant.  Of all life on earth human beings need sleep the most and seldom get all that they need.  And when humans don't get a full eight hours things can get ugly.

            The shrill shriek of an alarm clock shattered the peaceful silence of a dark room at the ungodly hour of 6:30 AM.  The offending piece of technology was located on a nightstand next to a large, comfortable bed.  After several minutes of the clock's obnoxious complaints a slender arm slid out from somewhere under a shapeless lump of blankets and pillows.  The pale arm blindly sought the source of its discomfort, moving in random arcs until the fingertips brushed against the side of the black box.  The fingers briefly passed through the side of the shrieking device, silencing its screams.  The arm then swiftly retreated back under the covers seeking a return to sleep, however brief it might be.  It was brief.

            "Wake up."  A sleepy Southern voice growled.

            "No."  Came the muffled response.

            "Wake up."  The feminine Southern voice repeated.

            "Five more minutes."  Groaned the muffled voice from under the covers.

            "Wake up I said."  The Southerner demanded.

            "It's too early."  The sleepy voice moaned.

            "No it's time to get up so get up already."  The female Southerner insisted sounding rather irritated.

            "No it isn't."  The voice protested.

            "Yes it is Kitty now get your lazy self up!"  The Southerner snapped.

            "Rogue, leave me alone I need more sleep."  Kitty whined from under the sheets.

            "If you don't get up now you'll miss breakfast."  Rogue warned.

            "I don't care."  Kitty growled.

            "Well then I guess you don't mind missing Piotr."  Rogue drawled.  The small mountain of blankets suddenly parted to reveal a brown-haired teenage girl still clouded with sleep.  She stumbled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom.

            "I hate you."  Kitty growled as she stumbled past her gothic Southern room-mate.  

            "Love you too sugar."  Came the Goth's falsely cheerful response.  Rogue turned and left the room, pulling on her gloves as she went.

            Kitty practically fell through the bathroom door as she tried to clear the sleep and cobwebs from her sluggish mind.  She growled again at her evil room-mate for striking her weak point.  Why did she have to bring Piotr up?  Rogue knew Kitty had a thing for the tall, muscular Russian and always found ways to use it to her advantage.  As Kitty entered the warm, steamy shower her half-awake mind began to wander.  She remembered when she had first arrived at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, the place she now thought of as home.

            She'd been a frightened and shy girl, still very upset about her sudden transformation from a normal freshman to a Mutant.  She was intimidated by everyone here, even the younger students made her jump.  And her room-mate Rogue didn't help matters any.  But then she ran into Piotr, literally, he soothed her frazzled nerves and helped her adjust to this new life.  They became the best of friends and a great team.  But lately she had become interested in him in a different way.  Now she could officially say that she, Katharine Pryde, had a crush on Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin.  And missing any opportunity to see him or be with him was quite nearly a sin in her book.

            Kitty finally woke up and slid out of her day-dreaming mode and continued the morning ritual of showering, dressing, and primping.  When she finished a half an hour later she was a new person, fully awake and ready for the day.  She skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen in high spirits, dodging the other residents to complete this morning's mission: grab an orange, a bagel, and sit with Piotr.  She sat next to him cheerfully munching on her cinnamon raisin bagel and listened to her Russian friend talk with Logan.  By the time she started on the orange Logan had finally finished talking with Piotr and retreated from the chaotic kitchen to work on his precious motorcycle.  This left Kitty alone with the handsome Russian Mutant.

            "Good morning Katya."  He warmly greeted her with his special nickname.

            "Good morning to you too Piotr."  She cheerfully replied with a faint blush.

            "I thought you weren't a morning person, what are you doing up this early?"  The Russian asked.

            "Rogue woke me up early today."  Kitty growled.  Remembering her room-mate temporarily killed her good mood.  For about 30 seconds anyway.  Then Piotr began to talk about something he'd seen on the news and she cheered up instantly.  He spoke and she listened for nearly an hour about everything from the weather to some late breaking story.  Every now and then Kitty would comment on something to keep the conversation from becoming one-sided, but mostly she just enjoyed his company.  He was handsome, strong, smart, caring, and most importantly single, what more could she ask for in a guy?  Well maybe some one more her age, Piotr was almost a decade too old for her.  That was his only flaw, if they were just a bit closer in age she just might be dating him right now.  But life was cruel to her, she was too young.  He saw her as a friend and little sister, not a possible love interest.  That just wasn't fair.  They would've talked more if Logan hadn't interrupted.

            "Half-pint, get up and say good-bye.  The Professor wants to see us."  The Canadian growled.

            "What for?  Did he say?"  Kitty asked as she stood to leave.

            "No, but I can guess.  Hurry up let's not keep him waiting."  The older Mutant commanded.  Kitty hurriedly said her good-bye to Piotr and dashed off to follow the feral Mutant up the stairs, down a hall, and into the Institute's library.  There they met Professor Charles Xavier, founder and headmaster of this unique school.

            "Good morning Logan, Kitty.  I hope you slept well."  The wheel-chair bound psychic greeted.

            "Slept fine Charles, what did you want to see us for?"  Logan gruffly asked.

            "Both of you expressed interest in a new mission correct?"  Xavier asked; both nodded.  "Well I have just received one from the government.  It seems their own team is tied up with something else and they cannot post-pone this particular operation.  The government already set it up with the Germans and it is too late to change things so they want us to go instead."

            "Germans?  Are we going to be shipped off to Germany for this?"  Logan asked warily.

            "No, actually, the mission is in Chicago.  The reason for the Germans involvement is that the target of this mission includes German organized crime elements in addition to the American kind.  The German operative that will be sent is to concentrate on the German half of things and act as a translator when needed."  The Professor explained.

            "So we're going to be working with a German government agent.  What do we have on him?"  Logan inquired.

            "Well I've looked through the information that was given to me and it worries me."  The Professor replied.

            "What's the matter with him?"  Kitty asked curiously.

            "According to the Germans, nothing is wrong with him, but looking some of his background information there could possibly be some problems."  Xavier stated.

            "Such as?"  Logan prodded.

            "For one he was taken from his foster family at a young age, isolated from society, and intensely trained by a questionable general.  Looking at his training and previous missions he seems more suited for military and paramilitary operations than this.  And he is also a highly advanced Mutant rated to be a level five.  Seeing all this I cannot understand why he was chosen for this."  The Professor sighed.

            "A level five!"  Logan practically swore.  "You've got to be kidding me!"  The Professor nodded sadly.  Kitty was shocked into silence; the very idea of meeting such a Mutant frightened her.  True Mr. McCoy was a level five Mutant and he was really nice but that didn't mean that this German would be.  "Well the only reason I can see for using him would be to show him off to us but that's still ridiculous."  Logan growled.

            "Yes I suppose that could be why."  Xavier mused.  "Are there anymore questions about the German agent?"

            "How young was he when he was taken?"  Kitty hesitantly asked in a small voice.

            "This particular agent was taken on his eighth birthday."  Xavier answered.  Kitty's jaw dropped and Logan swore quietly.

            "How old is he now?"  Logan asked.

            "Seventeen."  The Professor replied.

            "Damn."  Logan growled.  "That's a shame, a real damn shame."

            "What sort of problems could there be?"  Kitty inquired.

            "The most likely problems are emotional and social difficulties I would think, but I have no way to know for certain."  Xavier sighed in frustration.  "Knowing all of this do you accept this mission or should I ask someone else?"

            "You know me Chuck, I can never say no to you.  Of course I'll go."  Logan grumbled.

            "Sure I'll go.  This is in Chicago right?  I grew up around there so it'll be, like, perfect for me."  Kitty chirped.

            "Thank you both.  Now as I said earlier this mission is in Chicago and involves German and American organized crime.  Your job will be to infiltrate, gather information, and possibly cause a little disruption here and there if you can.  In five days you will board a flight out to Chicago and settle in the apartment that was reserved for the original team.  Two days later you are to pick up the German operative from the airport and inform him of the plan and anything else he needs to know.  Once you are all ready the mission will begin."  The Professor paused, pulled a folder out of a drawer and handed it to Logan.  "Here is all the information I was given.  This mission could get dangerous so there is no limit on the time you have to complete it.  Take all the time you need to complete it successfully and safely.  You should begin packing now and I wish you both the best of luck."

            Logan and Kitty shook hands with the aging professor before leaving to pack as they were told to.  Logan would read the contents of the folder first and then Kitty would get her turn.  Meanwhile she began sorting through her wardrobe and various possessions trying to decide what to take.  But she was interrupted by Rogue the gothic room-mate.

            "What are you doing?"  The Goth drawled, leaning on the doorframe.

            "Packing."  Kitty replied tersely, digging through a drawer.

            "What for?"  Rogue prodded, sauntering into the shared room.

            "A mission."  Kitty answered, piling up some clothes.

            "What kind of mission?"  The Southern girl asked, seating herself on her bed.

            "Information gathering and maybe some minor disruption type stuff."  Kitty said distractedly, searching for a missing shoe.

            "How long will that take?"  Rogue wondered, leaning against her backboard.

            "Don't know."  Kitty replied as she sifted through a stack of books.

            "What do you mean you don't know?"  Rogue demanded, leaning forward.

            "I mean I don't know, however long it takes I guess."  Kitty said as she flipped through an old photo album.  Rogue sighed, this wasn't getting her anywhere.  Either Kitty was still mad at her from this morning or she was off in her own little packing zone aware only of empty suitcases in need of filling.

            "Fine, whatever, just do a good job and don't get yourself hurt alright?"  Rogue grunted, rising form her seat on her bed and headed for the door.  Kitty paused her searching and sorting to stare at the retreating Goth's back.  _Was I just hearing things or was she worrying about me?  Even being nice to me?  _Kitty wondered incredulously.  "And don't make a mess of the room.  I don't want to trip over all of your frilly crap when I go to bed tonight."  Rogue warned from the doorway.  _Never mind, it was just my imagination.  Kitty thought with a sigh as she returned to picking through her belongings._

            _Why can't we just get along?  Kitty wondered.  _I don't go out of my way to make her life miserable so why does she do it to me?  Whenever I try to make friends with her she just pushes me away.  Maybe she's this way because she can't touch anyone.  Or maybe she's just naturally a bitch to the majority of the human race.  Hmm, lemme think...  Definitely a gothic super bitch.__

_            Well enough with that, back to them mission.  So Mr. Logan and I get to bail out the government again, whoopee!  At least we get to go to __Chicago_.  Maybe I'll get a chance to visit Mom and Dad sometime or catch a baseball game.  And it'll be great to see the city again, I've missed it.  Too bad Piotr can't come, that could be fun...  _She sighed regretfully; she'd forgotten that she wouldn't be able to see Piotr until they completed the mission.  __Guess I'll just have to spend as much time with him now as I can and get this mission done ASAP!  Kitty continued her packing with renewed resolve, determined to complete this new mission and once again prove herself worthy of the codename Shadowcat._


	5. Chicago

***Chapter 4***

**~****Chicago****~**

            DX-0 was teetering on the edge of boredom.  He was always teetering on the edge of something because he could never quite feel anything anymore.  He was never quite bored, on the edge of sadness, vaguely lonely, or mildly irritated, but that was as far as he got anymore.  Then again he was never quite sure, maybe he had forgotten what it felt like so he wouldn't know if he was really feeling it or not but he did know one thing, he was dead tired.

            The flight from Frankfurt to New York City had been the model of monotony.  Nothing had happened during the flight, nothing exciting, nothing frightening, nothing at all.  Normally this wouldn't have had any impact on him, but he was flying with Juli.  She didn't bring a long enough book and she could not sleep on planes which was a problem.  To ease her boredom she decided to torment DX-0.  She would ramble on and on about meaningless things and just before he could slip off to sleep she would force him to answer some pointless question.  This went on for the entire seven and a half hour flight and was further proof that life was indeed Hell.

            Then when the plane finally landed in New York Juli got them lost while searching for his connecting flight to Chicago.  Only a small miracle in the form of a flight attendant saved him from missing his plane.  Juli saw him off at the gate as she was ordered to and then he was alone.  The second flight was much shorter than the first and despite his exhaustion he couldn't sleep.  The second plane ride was also as uneventful as the first which wore further on his sleep deprived brain.  Now he sagged listlessly against a wall near his gate in this American airport struggling to stay awake for this American team to come and find him.  Yes life was definitely Hell.

***

            "Curse all the terrorists that it took to come up with all this security!  Now we're going to be even more late picking this guy up!"  Kitty cried in frustration.  Life was really being mean to her lately.  She'd forgotten to set her watch back an hour so she made them late getting to the airport.  And now these security checks were slowing them down even more.  Now they were over an hour behind and both in bad moods.

            "Keep it down kid, someone might get the wrong idea and then we'll be delayed even more."  Logan growled in warning.

            "I know, sorry."  Shadowcat grumbled.  "I'm just pissed off by being so late is all."  She mumbled apologetically.  Logan only grunted in response as the pair rode the moving sidewalks towards the gates.  _How ironic, I'm all pissed off at being late to pick up a person I don't know and am not sure I want to meet.  Someone up there must be laughing their ass off at me right now.  She thought darkly.  They were going to be working with a strange, possibly unstable, level 5 German Mutant on a risky, potentially dangerous operation, and they were late picking him up.  This was not going to go well._

            "At least it shouldn't be too hard to spot him."  Kitty mumbled half to herself.  And that was true, a level 5 Mutant could stand out in any crowd.  Level 5's are rare Mutants indeed, not only are they powerful but they also look the least human of all Mutants.  Take Dr. Henry McCoy for example.  He has incredible strength, heightened senses, animal instincts, inhuman agility and reflexes, and a body that resembles a strange blue gorilla.  But despite his bestial appearance Dr. McCoy is a highly intelligent individual that prefers teaching to fighting.  Because of his compassion and teaching style he is one of Kitty's favorite teachers.

            But this German Mutant was an unknown.  It was highly unlikely that he was anything like Dr. McCoy in either personality or appearance.  But at least they wouldn't have to worry about missing him.  So they were confused when they arrived at the gate he was supposed to be at and see no sign of anyone unusual whatsoever.  They saw groups of business men and women as well as tourists waiting for the next flight to board, but no one who looked like they could be even a level 1 Mutant was in sight.

            "What the Hell."  Logan swore.  "Where is he?"  He snarled scanning the area around the gate for the missing Mutant.  He didn't see him.  "Wait here Half-pint.  I'll see if I can't track this guy down."

            "Alright."  Kitty agreed, heading towards the wall to wait.  As she rummaged through her purse for a make-up mirror she noticed a young man standing a few feet to her left.  He looked like death warmed over as he sagged limply against the wall, a duffle bag hanging loosely in his hand.  His eyes were barely open and had dark circles forming under them.  _Did that guy get any sleep last night?  Kitty wondered.  She observed the worn out teen with mild interest.  __If he got some sleep and cleaned up a bit he just might be cute.  She mused.  But the way he wearily scanned the crowds made her wonder.  _Maybe...__

***

            DX-0 was seriously considering giving up on the Americans and going to sleep right here.  His eyes ached and burned from lack of sleep and his vision was getting fuzzy.  But before he could come to a decision someone decided to bother him.

            "Hey, are you okay?"  A concerned voice asked.  At first he ignored whoever it was, but then he remembered that he was supposed to act 'normal' here, put on his little act and pretend to be alive on the inside.  He turned and was confronted by a worried looking teenage girl.  He blinked his eyes slowly as his foggy brain struggled to remember and understand what she'd just asked him.  "Are you, like, deaf or something?  I asked you if you were okay."  She repeated, frowning in irritation.

            "_Ja, I am fine, just tired."  He managed after a moment.  His accent was thicker than normal due to his sleep deprived state which mangled his answer somewhat.  She looked at him sharply with sudden interest._

            "You're from Germany?"  She asked hopefully.

            "_Ja."  He replied flatly._

            "Well I'm looking for someone from there, maybe you can help me out."  The girl cheerfully suggested.  DX-0 blinked drowsily, how the heck could she be so happy and energetic?

            "Maybe."  He replied.

            "Great!"  She exclaimed.  "So did you see anyone weird around here?"  She asked.  Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with their own sort of light and, for a minute, his half awake mind became distracted by them.  "Hello, are you still awake or what?"  She inquired waving a hand in front of his face.

            "Not that I noticed."  He said finally.

            "Are you sure?"  She pressed.

            "_Nein."  He said._

            "What do you mean 'no'?"  The girl demanded.

            "I did not pay much attention to the other people from the plane."  He said simply.  She gave him a dark look which he ignored.

            "Some help you are!"  She snapped in exasperation.  "Now we'll never find this guy."  She growled, turning away from him.  "Stupid German government."  The girl grumbled.  DX-0 paused, did he hear her correctly?

            "Who are you looking for exactly?"  He asked, waking up a bit more.

            "Funny thing is we don't even know his name.  We just have some weird letter/number designation.  Weird huh?"  She snorted.

            "What is it?"  He asked.

            "DX-0, pretty strange isn't it?"  She replied.  He stared at her until she shrank back from him a bit.  "What's the matter?"  She asked meekly.

            "I am DX-0."  He stated.

            "No way."  She replied incredulously.  "This DX-0 person is a level 5, you look completely normal."

            "Appearances can be deceiving."  He responded.

            "Are you a shape-shifter then?"  The girl asked curiously.

            "_Nein."  He replied flatly._

            "Then how is it that you look like a normal human if you're a level 5?"  She demanded.

            "This is a hologram."  He answered quietly.  The teenager stared at him for several minutes before she hesitantly raised her hand.  She reached forward and, before he realized what she was doing, brushed her fingertips against the side of his face.  DX-0 stiffened in something akin to shock at her actions.  If she wasn't who he thought she was then everything was over right now.  She studied him a bit more before coming to some decision.

            "Sorry about being late."  She apologized.  "Wait here for a minute while I get Mr. Logan so we can leave."  DX-0 nodded and returned to what he had been doing before, mindlessly leaning against the blank airport wall.  The girl had been gone a full minute before he realized something, she looked like she was younger than him.  Did that mean she was just like him? Or did it mean something else entirely?  Maybe it meant nothing at all.  His numb mind slowly mulled over these various possibilities as he waited for the girl and this 'Mr. Logan'.

            "Is this some kind of joke Half-pint?"  A gruff voice growled.  DX-0 wearily looked up to see a short and stocky man who didn't appear to be terribly happy.

            "No, this isn't a joke, this is the guy!"  The teenage girl protested.  "Just touch his skin and you'll see."  She whispered into the man's ear.  Mr. Logan growled but he followed her suggestion and found she was right.

            "So you're this DX-0 we're supposed to work with."  The man growled; DX-0 tiredly nodded.  "Well let's get your bags and get the Hell out of here."  Mr. Logan grunted.  DX-0 sluggishly moved to obey; tightening his grip on the duffle bag he pushed off the wall to follow his new team-mates to the baggage claim.  His Government Issue luggage wasn't hard to spot and in less a half an hour they were in a black SUV on the way to DX-0's new 'home'.


	6. The Loop

***Chapter 5*******

**~The ****Loop****~**

            Kitty relaxed in the front passenger seat of the black Grand Cherokee as Logan drove them from O'Hare to their apartment.  She kept her gaze fixed firmly ahead in an attempt to ignore the other passenger of the SUV.  This German, known only as DX-0, was undeniably creepy.  Not only did he look half-dead from lack of sleep but something else seemed wrong about him.  She wasn't quite sure what it was but this guy definitely had some problems.

            _His eyes, there's definitely something wrong about his eyes.  She decided.  _He may be tired but even Dad had more life in him after a graveyard shift than this guy does._  Kitty thought.  She remembered the year when her father had to work nights to help support a nephew in college.  That year had not been a pleasant one.  She glanced behind her to their 'team-mate' who was still awake and staring blankly out the window.  _Is he even seeing the stuff around him?  _She wondered.  __It certainly doesn't look like he does.  Kitty turned back to the front unnerved by his silence.  Finally she couldn't take the oppressive quiet anymore and decided to try talking to him again._

            "Are you still alive back there?"  Kitty asked jokingly as she turned back to face the German again.

            "_Ja."  Was his emotionless response._

            "Well that's good to hear."  She replied with slightly forced cheerfulness.  "So since we weren't given your name what should we call you?"  Kitty asked politely.

            "Whatever you want."  The German flatly responded.

            "That doesn't help us much."  She grumbled.  "Don't you have a name?"  She inquired.  The German agent remained silent and impassive.  Kitty growled quietly in frustration.

            "Just call him Zero for now."  Logan gruffly suggested.

            "Where did you get that from?"  Kitty asked shifting her focus to the older Mutant.

            "It's just his designation without the letters."  Logan replied.

            "Why not call him 'DX'?"  Kitty wondered.

            "That makes him sound like some sort of black rapper wannabe.  Zero fits because there's nothing going on in that kid's head."  Logan grunted.  Kitty turned back to the German Mutant to gauge his reaction to Logan's comment.  There was none.

            "I guess it makes sense."  Kitty hesitantly agreed after a moment.  "So until you tell us your name or we decide otherwise you are Zero."  She decreed to the German in the backseat.  He only nodded in response.  Kitty turned back to the front as silence once again descended on them.  _This guy is so weird._

***

            DX-0 needed sleep badly.  No wait, he was Zero now, couldn't forget that.  He felt more disconnected than usual, like he was moving in a dream.  Wait, that wasn't right, he didn't dream anymore so how would he know what that felt like.  The sounds that did seep into the cab of the SUV sounded more muffled and distant than they should and everything looked blurry.  He was never going to pull an all-nighter ever again if he could help it.

            Zero leaned his forehead against the window and gazed out at the scenery.  He watched as it changed from relatively open spaces outside the airport to the increasingly cramped confines of the city.  The buildings started off short and small and grew massive and tall.  The sidewalks were choked with a manner of people from the homeless to wealthy business executives, families and tourists to gang-bangers.  It all bled together in one liquid blur that held as much meaning to him as a puddle of spilled coffee.

            But as much as he wanted, needed, to sleep he couldn't give in just yet.  For one the Americans might want to talk with him again and for another they hadn't told him that he could.  So he had to stay awake until they said otherwise.  He watched as the SUV wove in and out of the chaotic city traffic, over and under bridges and through a few short tunnels.  They passed under some elevated train tracks and turned down side-street after side-street.  After more turns than Zero's tired brain could remember they stopped in front of an old but decent looking apartment building.  He moved in a daze up a couple flights of stairs to some plain numbered door.  Just trade one cell for another it seemed.  Not that it really mattered anyway.

            "Home sweet home!"  The girl exclaimed as they entered the sparsely furnished apartment.  Zero half stumbled after her, barely taking note of his surroundings, closely followed by Mr. Logan.

            "Okay Kit, show him to his room before he collapses."  Mr. Logan gruffly commanded.  This order completely changed the girl's demeanor from bright and cheerful to irate and upset.

            "Can't we talk about this some more?"  She nearly whined in protest.

            "No, we already talked this through and you agreed to it."  Mr. Logan asserted firmly.

            "I know but I didn't think he would be _this _creepy.  I mean, I knew he probably would be _kinda creepy, but this is __above and beyond creepy.  I don't know any word to even __describe how creepy and weird he is.  Like, honestly, who just stares out the window and doesn't react to anything said or done around him?  Did you even look at his eyes?  It's, like, looking at a zombie or something, there's nothing in them.  That's totally creepier than I want to deal with first thing in the morning.  There has to be some other way.  Maybe-"  Mr. Logan interrupted her ranting with a raised hand and she grudgingly fell silent._

            "Don't jump to conclusions here.  He could be this way 'cause he's practically half-dead.  And you did agree to give this a shot no matter how he is for one week.  Now quit stalling and get on with it."  Mr. Logan said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.  The girl gave the older man a pleading look but he didn't change his mind.

            "Oh alright."  She snapped.  "Follow me."  She muttered to Zero as she dragged some of his bags across the room.  Zero simply moved after her without comment or question.  The teen mumbled various unintelligible things under her breath as she led the way to Zero's room.  He really didn't pay much attention to it, hearing only 'stupid Wolverine', 'stupid mission', and 'stupid tenants'.  He didn't think much of it.

            "Well here we are."  She muttered leaning his bags against the wall.  As he glanced around the room Zero got the feeling that he might know why she was so upset about this.  The small bedroom was crowded by a desk, two dressers, and a bunk bed.  This apparently was her room too.  "You get the top and that dresser."  She stated gesturing towards the shorter of the two.  "And don't you dare try anything funny with me or you will regret it."  She warned.

            Zero only sighed and began unpacking his things into the indicated dresser.  Once he finished that task he dragged himself up the ladder and onto the top bed.  He only meant to take a look at it, to see what it would be like up there.  Perhaps it was because of his sleep deprived state or maybe the bed shared part of the blame, but whatever it was it knocked him out in seconds.  One moment he was awake and the next there was only darkness.

***

            Kitty was livid.  This just wasn't fair.  She was trapped in a small room with a strange German Mutant who could be borderline psychotic and, worst of all, was a guy.  If he wasn't a boy she might be able to put up with it.  Her room-mate back at the Institute was Rogue after all, the untouchable Goth Mutant.  If Kitty could survive her she could survive any room-mate.  Any _female room-mate that is and Zero is most definitely not female._

            True she had agreed with Logan to try and share her room with the guy but that was before she met him.  If he had been anything like the boys she knew back at the Institute she might be able to deal with it, but he wasn't.  He was unlike any person she'd ever met before and she wasn't sure that it was a good thing.  As far as she could see he had zero personality and was something of an emotionless shell.  Maybe Logan was right that his being half-sleep had something to do with it but it didn't account for all of it.  The Professor had warned the German agent might have emotional and social difficulties but the reality was far worse than she had expected.

            Kitty lay on her bed staring up at the bottom of the bed above and let her mind wander.  She pondered the total un-fairness of the universe starting with the moment she learned that she was a Mutant.  Now she was perfectly comfortable with it but the rejection and isolation she experienced early on still pained her.  People she'd known her whole life and considered close friends left her in an instant.  She had new friends now but it wasn't the same, it would never be the same.  Next was settling into Institute life, which had been an interesting experience indeed.  Then came her crush on Piotr and Rogue's realization of it.  If she didn't come up with a solution to that particular problem soon Rogue would find ways to blackmail her into doing anything.  And now this little fiasco waiting to happen, life was truly cruel.

            _I could kill whoever lived here last.  She mentally growled.  _Well, maybe not kill them, but definitely hurt them!_  Sure it was a good thing that the apartment had come fully furnished, much easier to move in and less work for them, but the beds were a problem.  The previous tenant must have been either a single mom or a single dad with two kids since one bedroom contained a single small bed and this one had the bunk bed.  Too bad that it was too awkward for her and Logan to share a room, but it was, and he hated bunk beds more than she did.  So she was stuck with the creepy German until further notice.  __I really hate my life right now.  She sighed inwardly.  _I suppose it's better than whatever Zero's life is like if those empty eyes of his were any indication.  _She shuddered, suddenly very uncomfortable.  __Creepy, creepy, creepy...  _

            She glanced at her new alarm clock and noticed that it was near dinner time.  _Oh yum, frozen pizza...again.  _She thought sarcastically, careful not to crack her head as she got up.  If she'd gotten the room all to herself she would've taken the top bunk to avoid that worry.  But at times she suffered from nightmares of falling and tended to phase through her bed, and if she was going to share she didn't want to end up with him in the morning.  If she took the bottom then most of the time she'd end up under the bed instead.  Kitty was about to head off to the kitchen/dinning room to consume her meal of frozen pizza when she remembered that her new room-mate Zero was still up on his bed.

            "Hey, you awake up there?"  She called; no response.  "Hello?"  She tried again.  "Anyone up there?"  And again her only reply was silence.  _Great, just great.  Now I have go up there and wake him up to see if he's hungry.  _She thought nervously to herself, slowly working up the nerve to climb up there and wake him.  It took a few minutes but she was finally ready.  Kitty slowly clambered up the ladder, somewhat curious as to what she'd find since the room was too narrow and crowded to get a clear view of the top bunk.  When Kitty reached the top rung she was greeted with a close-up view of the back of Zero's head.  His back was almost pressed up against the short guardrail that prevented people from rolling off the bed and was facing the wall.  He was also fully clothed and laying on top of his covers, a testament to how tired the poor guy was.  Kitty let out a loud sigh before shoving him over so she had a place to sit and wasn't clinging to the ladder for dear life.  Zero didn't stir one bit, he was completely dead to the world so it was rather pointless to try and wake him up.

            Kitty sighed again; she couldn't leave him like this.  Before she left for her frozen pizza dinner she would try and make the poor guy a bit more comfortable.  Maybe they would get along a bit better if she tried being extra nice to him.  She phased off his button-up shirt a bit nervously, leaving him to sleep in the plain cotton T-shirt he had on underneath.  Then she moved on to removing his shoes, carefully crawling over him to reach them.  Fortunately he didn't show any signs of waking so she wrapped her hands around his right shoe to take it off and became confused.

            _This doesn't feel like a shoe.  It feels...furry?  She froze in sudden realization.  _Wait...he isn't wearing any shoes.  This is his foot!  _Kitty hastily dropped the foot belatedly realizing that his shoes were a part of his holographic disguise.  __Ick, now I have to wash my hands extra good before I eat.  Who knows where this guy's been?  Kitty thought as she phased the sheets up through him so he would be covered.  She then scrambled off the bed, down the ladder, and out the door pausing only to turn off the light and shut the door behind her.  The young Mutant stopped in the bathroom to wash her hands before she consumed her dinner.  _Creepy, creepy, creepy...__


	7. Morning

***Chapter 6***

**~Morning~**

            DX-0 drifted through a void of swirling blackness.  Or was he Zero now?  He couldn't remember.  All he was aware of was the world of warm empty blackness that he was floating through.  Wait a minute, it was warm?  It was never warm when he was here, ever.  It had always been cool to downright frigid when he was in the dark grip of sleep.  So why the heck was it warm?  Why now?  Why this time?  It made no sense but the warmth was oddly comforting, even vaguely familiar.  It seemed to pull at his barely conscious mind, calling him back to the deeper realms of sleep.  He was still so tired.

            But things never went his way.  A sound invaded his silent refuge, a sort of faint buzzing shriek.  It was so muffled and distant sounding that he slid further into his dark world and ignored it.  After a time it ceased altogether and he forgot about it.  Then another sound pierced the darkness to disturb him, a voice.  He didn't recognize it and couldn't understand it so he attempted to ignore it.  But it wouldn't leave him alone.  The voice poked and prodded at him, demanding and insistent.  The harder he fought against it the louder and more annoying it became.  It disrupted the fluid blackness that he submerged himself in, dragging him relentlessly to the surface and the waking world.  And the closer he came to wakefulness the clearer the voice became.

            "Wakey, wakey sleepy head."  The voice obnoxiously teased.  "It's time to get up and start the day!"  It cheerfully declared.  He turned away in an attempt to escape but the voice of that _verdammt _girl refused to let him.  "Come on now, it's 8:30 and almost time for breakfast.  Wake up already before I decide to dump a bucket of cold water on your head!"  She mischievously threatened, lightly punching his shoulder to emphasize her seriousness.

            "_Nein, nicht jetzt.  Fünf mehr Minuten."  He weakly pleaded._

            "Would you, like, mind repeating that in English?"  She asked brightly.

            "_Muß ich?"  He asked in a sleep distorted voice._

            "Unfortunately I, like, totally don't speak German so if you don't start speaking English I'll just have to dump that icy cold water on you."  She brightly replied.  It was around this time that Zero realized she was serious about her threat and he had better get up or he'd get wet.  He slowly opened one eye only to shut it again quickly to block out the bright harsh light.  He waited for a moment before trying again.  The second time he managed to keep his eye open waiting several seconds for it to focus before opening the other one.  This task accomplished, he then turned to face his tormentor.

            "_Was?"  He sleepily demanded_

            "English Zero, speak English."  She chided.

            "What?"  He repeated in English in a calmer tone of voice.

            "Weren't you listening?  I said it's almost time for breakfast so get up now or you'll miss it."  The girl warned.

            "Oh."  He tonelessly responded.  She rolled her eyes in annoyance and vanished down the ladder.  Zero sluggishly dragged himself out of bed to go to breakfast but stopped.  Why was he under the covers?  He didn't remember crawling under the sheets last night, not that he ever used sheets; he always slept on top of them.  And where was his shirt?  He knew he had it on when he fell asleep, he was quite certain that he hadn't taken it off.  This slightly bothered him.  Did he take off his shirt and slide under the covers and not remember doing it?  That didn't sound like something he would do.  Or did something else happen?  Zero shook his head to clear the cobwebs and bothersome thoughts from it before continuing on his way to breakfast.

            "Took you long enough."  A gruff voice complained as Zero entered the combination kitchen/dinning room.  Mr. Logan glared at the unfortunate young German greatly annoyed by his tardiness to breakfast.  Zero froze, uncertain of what he should do or expect.  The tense moment was suddenly broken by the popping of a toaster.

            "Waffles are done!"  The girl called out cheerfully.  She pulled the toasted waffles out of the toaster, plopped them onto a plate, and handed it to Zero.  "Here you go."  She said with a bright smile.  Zero blinked several times before carefully taking the plate from the cheery teenager's grasp and seating himself at the table to eat.  He munched absently on the crunchy breakfast food, barely tasting it.  "Orange juice?"  She asked, pulling him back to the present for a moment.  He nodded and she poured him a glass of the orange liquid.  Zero drank the mildly pulpy drink down without a word.  The whole time Zero was eating the room was smothered in a heavy silence.

            "Are you ready to talk now?"  Mr. Logan asked as Zero finished his meal.

            "_Ja."  He replied._

            "Good."  The Canadian growled.  "Here's the game plan for this mission: you and Half-pint work together on passive information gathering and I take the more active involved stuff unless I say otherwise.  The two of you will look out for one another and find out all you can without blowing it.  I'll dig into things more directly and see what's going on.  I may call you in to help but don't hold your breath.  Any questions?"  The feral Mutant gruffly inquired.

            "When do we start?"  The girl curiously asked.

            "As soon as Zero gets over his jet-lag."  Mr. Logan replied.

            "Where do we start?"  She inquired.

            "Your first location will be a nightclub named 'Blue Lotus', from there we'll have to wait and see."  The older Mutant answered.

            "Sounds good to me."  The girl replied, cheerful as ever.  Zero only nodded, the less he had to say the better.

            "Then we're all set with that.  Now Zero, here's how things are going to work around here.  Breakfast is at 8:45, lunch is at 12:00, and dinner is at 5:30.  If you don't like what's here or miss it you're on your own.  I assume you know how to behave so I won't go into that.  If you have any questions about anything ask me or Kitty.  You cross either of us then you're in for it big time.  You got that?"  Mr. Logan demanded.

            "_Ja, got it."  Zero replied with a slight nod._

            "Right, now go take your shower."  The Canadian Mutant commanded.  Zero nodded once again and returned to the bedroom for a change of clothes.  He grabbed whatever was on top and headed to the bathroom for the ordered shower.

            "Have a nice sleep?"  The girl named Kitty asked politely.

            "_Ja."  He flatly responded._

            "Is that, like, your favorite word or something?"  She asked him curiously.  He gave her his usual blank look.  "Well, I mean, it's all you've really said since the airport."  She nervously added.  He remained silent, watching her reaction to him impassively.  She went from being all happy and cheerful to extremely nervous and fidgety.  This almost amused him that by doing nothing he could have such an effect on her.  "Never mind."  She mumbled meekly and then darted past him into the bedroom.

            Zero shook his head and entered the tiny bathroom.  He quickly stripped off his clothes and deactivated the hologram before stepping into the miniscule shower stall.  He turned on the water, adjusting the temperature till it was almost scalding hot.  He grabbed some generic brand of shampoo, probably Mr. Logan's, and poured a generous amount into his tri-dactyl hand.  He scrubbed the greenish goo all through his hair and fur until he was covered all over by thick suds before rinsing it all off.  The whole time he was showering his mind was off somewhere else.  As the billowing clouds of steam fogged the mirror Zero remembered a time before he was known as DX-0.  Back to when he had a name, a family.  Back to when he had a life.

***

            "Why me?"  Kitty whimpered as she slumped into the beat-up swivel chair near the desk.  She propped her elbows on the scratched desktop and buried her face in her hands.  Either Zero just wasn't a morning person or he was always this way and she had a sinking feeling that it was the latter.  How could he just stare at her like that?  His empty soul-less eyes looked like they could see right through her and whenever he did that a chill would race down her spine.  He had looked so harmless and peaceful when she saw him sleeping, but now he looked every bit as dangerous as he was said to be.  Those eyes held no emotion, no soul, they were cold and empty and they scared the crap out of her.

            _Once this week is over either he's going to sleep on the couch or I am.  She decided, unwilling to put up with him for much longer than was necessary.  Kitty rose from her seat to nervously pace the small room desperately trying to soothe her frazzled nerves.  It didn't work.  Then Kitty remembered that she still hadn't set up her laptop.  There was something to distract herself with.  And maybe she had mail!  Her cheerful mood was on the rebound as she pulled a black case out from under the bed where she'd stashed it and began to unpack it.  The tech-savvy teen began fiddling with the high-performance portable computer, setting up its internet connection and charged up the batteries for emergency back-up power.  With that done she entered cyber-space and logged into her E-mail account._

            No new mail, Kitty growled.  Nothing from her parents, nothing from her friends, heck she didn't even have any spam.  How very disappointing.  It was too early for any of her classmates to be online so she couldn't chat with any of them so that option was out.  Logan would be off somewhere by now and probably wouldn't be back until around dinner time so she couldn't talk to him.  That left only Zero for company.  Life was cruel.

            Kitty was slipping into a state of nervous boredom when an idea struck her.  So what if she didn't get any mail, she'd send some instead!  Now the question was who to write to.  Her first choice was Piotr, but he didn't have an E-mail account.  If she was going to write him anything it would have to be done the old-fashioned way.  Her next choice was her parents, but since they lived close by it would make more sense to visit them in person when she had the chance.  That left her school friends.  _Hmm...Now who should I write to?  If I write to Scott or Jean it will eventually get to everyone.  But if I write to Jubilee or Bobby instead what I say will spread faster but is more likely to be exaggerated.  But maybe if I...  Her thoughts trailed off as she set about composing a quick E-mail that was addressed to everyone.  If she did it this way then everyone would get the same thing with no fear of exaggeration or misunderstanding.  But she needed some advice concerning her new room-mate and knew just who she should ask.  She took a bit more time writing a second E-mail to her old room-mate Rogue._

            TO: RogueGothgurl666@yahoo.com

            FROM: PrettyShadowKitty16@excite.com

            SUBJECT: Confidential!!!

            Hi Rogue!~

I know we've never been on the best of terms but I really need some advice and you're the only person that I think could help me.  And I really need you to keep this a secret for me; I don't everyone bugging me about this.  So here goes...

You remember how we have to work with some German Mutant on this mission right?  Well due to some cruel twist of fate he and I are stuck sharing a room.  But that's not the worst of it.  He's a level 5 but he's got some sort of holographic disguise so I don't even know what he really looks like yet.  And he's so cold and emotionless it scares me.  I have to work with this guy and I can barely stand to be near him or have him near me for five minutes!  I don't know what to do about this and some advice would really help me out.  I'll be forever grateful!

~Kitty

            _There, hopefully that should do it.  Kitty thought as she sent the completed message and prayed for a speedy response.  The young Mutant once again had nothing to do and her nervousness returned full force.  __Now what do I do?  She wondered miserably.  She dreaded seeing her new room-mate again, but she hated being alone.  Sure a little privacy was nice every now and then but a whole day without someone to talk to or something to do was torment for her.  If only Zero was more talkative or not so cold she might be able to get along with him.  She glanced at the clock, it was almost ten.  __Is he still in the shower?  She wondered.  She hadn't seen a sign of him since that encounter in the hall.  She strained her ears to listen for him but heard nothing, the apartment was silent.  She shivered._

            Kitty left the computer behind and slowly, cautiously made her way to the bathroom.  Females, in general, spend more time in the shower than males do, so when a guy takes longer in the bathroom than a girl does it is cause for concern.  Zero had been in there for over an hour, almost twice as long as she'd been in there.  She paused outside the bathroom door listening for any sign of movement from within, she heard nothing.  Was he still in there?  She hesitantly raised her hand and knocked on the door, holding her breath as she waited for some sort of response.  For several minutes it was quiet and she wondered if he still was in the apartment at all.

            "_Was?"  Zero asked, his voice muffled by the closed door._

            "Are you all right in there?  You've been in there for, like, ever."  She asked timidly.  He didn't answer right away and Kitty began to squirm nervously.  The door suddenly opened and what she saw rendered her temporarily speechless.  It seemed that Zero either had forgotten to turn his hologram back on after his shower or he didn't feel that he needed to have it on at the moment.  He was definitely a level 5, no doubt about it.  If she didn't know better she'd say that the devil himself was standing in front of her, or at least some sort of demon.  This was just too much.

            "_Ja, I am fine."  He replied, completely oblivious to Kitty's reaction to his true form.  His yellow eyes bored into hers, cold and emotionless as ever.  She had to fight the overwhelming urge to phase through the floor to escape his frightening empty gaze.  "Is there anything you need me to do?"  He asked in a near monotone voice._

            "Oh, um, no, just checking to see if you were okay."  She nervously stammered.  He continued to start at her expectantly and she struggled not to fidget.  "Why are you staring at me?"  She demanded unable to take his staring for much longer.

            "No reason."  He said after a moment.

            "Why don't you go watch TV or something?"  She nervously suggested.

            "I would if you would move."  He stated.

            "Oh, sorry."  She squeaked moving off to the side so he could pass by.  He moved past her without another word, his tail swishing back and forth as he walked.  _Wait, he has a tail!  _She thought in shock.  This was truly a nightmare.  But it couldn't get any worse.  Could it?


	8. Friday

***Chapter 7***

**~Friday~**

            The past few days had been rather interesting.  At least Zero thought so.  That girl named Kitty didn't look like she shared his opinion of things though.  The four days that he had been here she had spent either on her little computer or somewhere that he wasn't.  She avoided him like the plague and when she was around him she was extremely nervous.  Zero wasn't sure if he was supposed to be amused or annoyed by her behavior so he was neither.  He simply ignored her and distracted himself with the TV like he always did.  But this strangely seemed to bother her even more.  Not that it bothered him.  It was just a part of his new routine.

            But today was different.  Today was Friday and the day they would begin work.  It started the same as the first four had.  Kitty came up to harass him awake with her obnoxious cheerfulness and his attitude would chase her off.  Then it was time for his simple breakfast of a couple frozen waffles followed by a hot shower.  After the shower things had deviated from the routine.  Normally by this time Mr. Logan would be out doing something, but today he was still here.  The older man watched him and the girl and their interaction, or lack thereof.  Why Mr. Logan was doing this Zero didn't know and didn't really care either.  He simply did what he always did, watch TV and ignore the Americans.

            Lunch came and went without incident.  Ham sandwiches and potato chips again.  Mr. Logan kept on watching as he ate his meal not saying a word.  The oppressive silence got to be too much for Kitty so she finished her food quickly and left the two other Mutants to their own devices.  Mr. Logan continued to study Zero watching his every move.  Zero merely finished eating, cleared his place, and returned to the television.  He ignored the probing gaze of the older man with ease.  Zero was used to this intense type of scrutiny and was far beyond caring about it.  Just ignore it and it will go away eventually, everything did.  And Mr. Logan did go away, leaving Zero alone again.  Not that he really noticed.  

***

            Kitty was something of a nervous wreck.  The advice that Rogue had given her wasn't helping.  Maybe she should write her again.  And tonight they would begin working that Blue Lotus club.  With all this stress how could she 'relax and ignore the guy' like Rogue said?  Now Logan was here watching how they got along with each other before they went out.  Her stress level was rising by the hour and the heavy silence in the small apartment didn't help matters any.  Lunch was the absolute worst though.  It was so quiet and tense in the kitchen that she couldn't take it and had to leave.  She fled to the room she shared with the emotion-challenged German teen and paced the length of the narrow room for several minutes.  Once she had calmed down some she seated herself at the desk and fiddled nervously with her laptop.  Not long after Logan abandoned his one-sided staring contest and came to talk with her.

            "He's watching TV again, isn't he."  Kitty stated, not looking up from the screen.

            "Yep.  Is that all he does all day?"  The Canadian asked as he sat himself on the edge of the bed.

            "Yes that's all he does.  Never changes the channel, just watches whatever is on."  Kitty sighed, turning from the report she'd been typing to face her Instructor.  "All he does is stare at the TV and ignore me."

            "And why does this bother you?"  Logan asked.

            "If there was someone else around to talk to then I don't think this would bother me so much.  But he's the only person around and all he does is stare at the TV and I'm left with nothing to do.  The few times that I've managed to get his attention he gives me the creepiest look."  Kitty miserably complained.

            "Did you ask anyone back home about this?"  The feral Mutant inquired.

            "Yes, I asked Rogue.  She told me to 'relax and ignore the guy'.  Easy for her to say."  The younger Mutant grumbled.

            "True, but if you let him get to you like this the mission will go on longer.  It's not going to be easy for you but you have to try and ignore those looks.  Treat him just like you treat Rogue and I think you'll do just fine."  The older man suggested.

            "I don't know, I'll try it."  Kitty mumbled doubtfully.

            "You do that."  Logan said as he stood to leave.  "I'm going off to talk with him now, see you at dinner."

            "Good luck."  She called after him.  _You're going to need it.  _She added silently.

***

            Zero sat quietly on the worn couch watching TV as usual.  Mr. Logan had finally left him alone.  Now there was only some children's program on the local public access channel which he thought was rather stupid.  But small children probably loved it so he could take it just fine.  But his peace didn't last, Mr. Logan returned from where ever he was and turned off the television set.  Zero blinked for a moment, startled by the sudden end to the dancing pictures on the screen.  He slowly turned to face the older man and see what he wanted.

            "So Zero, how've you been?"  Mr. Logan asked somewhat politely.

            "Fine."  Zero responded.

            "What do you think of America so far?"  Mr. Logan inquired.

            "It is fine."  Zero replied.

            "It's just 'fine', nothing more specific?"  The older man pressed.

            "_Nein."  Zero confirmed.  Mr. Logan sat back and studied Zero a moment before speaking again._

            "So I take it that you're always this way."  The man stated, Zero nodded.  "You've always had the social graces of an ice cube and the personality of a blank sheet of paper then?"  Mr. Logan continued and again Zero only nodded in response.  "Great."  The man growled, so much for getting a reaction out of him.  "Well what do you think of Kitty?"  Mr. Logan asked, hoping for a non-monosyllabic response.  The young German remained silent for several minutes pondering his response.

            "She seems nervous all the time but other than that she is fine."  He replied finally.  Mr. Logan sighed as he slowly shook his head.

            "Kitty's nervous all the time because you scare her.  To her you're like the living dead and that tends to bother the average person.  And when you go out tonight you're going to be dealing with average people.  What do you plan to do about that?"  The man quietly asked.

            "I know how to act, I can get by."  Zero answered.  Mr. Logan looked skeptical.

            "We'll see.  In the meantime try and get along with Kitty a bit better.  It'll make things easier and she'll really appreciate it.  You clear on that?"  Mr. Logan gruffly demanded.

            "_Ja."  Zero replied.  The American, apparently satisfied, nodded and left the room.  Once he was gone Zero returned his attention to the TV, turning it back on to catch the end of the children's program.  The meaningless images paraded across his vision and the foreign sounds invaded his ears but very little reached his consciousness.  He mulled over his new instructions concerning his 'partner'.  So he had to be nice to her, try not to scare her, and still get his job done.  _Wunderbar.__

***

            When the TV turned back on Kitty let out a heavy sigh.  She knew that she shouldn't eavesdrop but the apartment was so small and quiet that she couldn't help overhearing them.  She returned her focus to her laptop somewhat disappointed by what little she had learned.  Her theory was now confirmed; he had absolutely no opinions about anything.  Whenever you asked him for his opinion he'd say 'fine' or that he didn't care.  He'd probably agree with you no matter what you said and do whatever was asked of him without question.  If you told him to jump off a bridge, he'd do it.

            Kitty shuddered at that last thought.  The very idea that a person like that could exist disturbed her.  Zero was as close to being a mindless drone as anybody she'd ever met or even heard of.  He was an emotionless automaton and probably had more in common with a factory robot than with another human being.  _But how did he get this way?  _Kitty wondered and instantly regretted it as her imagination ran through several horrible possibilities.  Perhaps he had been abused to the point where he shut down emotionally to keep from hurting.  Or maybe he'd been isolated from human contact until he pulled inside himself to escape the endless, tortuous boredom of eternal loneliness.  Kitty violently shook her head to erase such frightening and disturbing thoughts.  If she kept that train of thought going much longer she was going to give herself nightmares.

            Kitty logged into her E-Mail account and scanned through her new messages.  _Spam, spam, spam, newsletter, spam, this spam filter is terrible.  Hey wait, what's this?  _She paused her scrolling and found an E-Mail from her mother.  Kitty opened the message and began to read.  There wasn't much new, her parents were both fine, the weather was nice and things were going well.  How were things going with her?  Kitty immediately replied saying that she was fine too, the weather was good here and things were going alright at the moment.  She also mentioned that she might be able to visit them soon and wondered when would be a good time to stop by.  Once she sent that she settled back into the battered swivel chair, bored once more.

            _Now what?  Kitty wondered.  She'd done everything that she could think of like type that report she had to do for history, reorganize her files, and finally finished that program she'd been fiddling with for the past month.  Now she had nothing left to do. The only possible thing that she could think of was watching TV, but that's what Zero was doing.  Kitty would rather hang out with Logan but he wouldn't be around until dinner time.  So that left her only two options, either stay in her room and go crazy from boredom, or go join Zero at the TV.  She glanced at the time; it wasn't quite two o'clock yet.  Kitty debated with herself for a few more minutes before she decided what to do._

            She shut off her laptop, straightened up her desk, and left for the TV.  The sight that greeted her was exactly what she expected to see.  Zero sat stiffly on the couch, sans hologram, mindlessly watching whatever happened to be on.  At the moment an infomercial featuring cookware was this hour's show.  _How the heck can he watch this?  Kitty wondered as she timidly looked in from the hallway.  Kitty nervously crept into the room and phased through the couch before sitting down on the tattered seat.  She waited for a good five minutes for him to react but he didn't.  His blank stare never budged from the TV screen.  Zero didn't appear to notice her.  This was really starting to get on her nerves.  She remembered Logan's advice to pretend that Zero was Rogue and decided now was as good a time as any to try it out.  So if Rogue was watching garbage on TV what would she do?  Ask her politely to change the channel and if Rogue ignored her request, hit her with a pillow._

            "Hey Zero, you're not really watching this right?"  Kitty asked in her most cheerful voice.  Silence.  "I guess not, could you change the channel please?"  She politely asked.  Silence.  She glared at him for a moment before snatching a small decorative pillow and whacking him upside the head with it.  His eyes widened in shocked surprise as he slowly turned to stare at her, but she ignored him.  He had ignored her so she would just ignore him for awhile.  Kitty grabbed the remote from the coffee table and began channel surfing in search of real entertainment.  She sat cross-legged and leaned up against the left arm of the old couch as she flipped through the stations.  _Boring, trash, re-run, seen it, stupid, boring, garbage, talk show, infomercial, re-run, hey!  It's Jaws!  She instantly recognized the infamous opening scene of the shark thriller and settled in for the show._


	9. Nightcrawler

***Chapter 8***

**~Nightcrawler~**

            Zero sat frozen in shock.  That could not have just happened.  That girl did not just do that.  She was afraid of him, avoided him.  There was no way that this was the same girl that he shared a room with.  That girl would never speak so confidently to him then casually smack him with a pillow and ignore him.  No way Kitty would do something like that, and certainly not to him.  There was no way that her attitude towards him could shift so drastically in less than an hour.  There was just no way.  He sat perfectly still staring at the girl sitting next to him struggling to understand what had just taken place.

            "It's rude to stare you know."

            Zero started at Kitty's sudden statement.  He quickly turned back to the television screen wondering how she knew that he had been staring; she hadn't looked at him once since she hit him with the pillow.  Zero was very confused and somewhat unnerved by this and didn't like the feeling one bit.  He slumped back against the couch unsure of how he should proceed.  What should he do?  Should he do anything?  Should he say something?  Or should he just leave?  He was so wrapped up in his own confused thoughts that he was oblivious to the movie playing on the screen.  He was unaware of the increasing tension as the movie progressed and paid for it.  He was caught completely off guard when a particular scene caused Kitty to react rather badly.

            He wasn't entirely sure what happened.  All he knew was that one moment everything seemed calm and the next Kitty shrieked and grabbed onto him for dear life.  He now found himself pinned up against the arm of the couch by Kitty who had her face hidden in his shoulder whimpering something he couldn't quite hear.  Zero sat frozen, numbly staring at the girl that was latched onto his arm.  He blinked dazedly, struggling to get his brain working again.

            "_W-was ist los?"  He stammered at last.  The whole situation had him on edge; no one touched him unless it was part of his training.  This definitely wasn't part of training.  "What are you doing?"  Zero demanded a bit more calmly.  Kitty slowly peeled herself off of him looking rather sheepish as she did so._

            "Sorry, I forgot about that part."  She meekly apologized squirming nervously as his golden eyes bored into her.  After a few more uncomfortable minutes Kitty turned away and re-immersed herself in the movie to escape his glowing eyes.  Zero studied her for a moment longer before he turned back to the television screen, actually watching it this time.  Personally he didn't see what was so frightening about it, it was just a movie after all, and movies aren't real.  It's the real things that are scary.

***

            Kitty felt so embarrassed.  She'd completely forgotten about that scene with the wrecked boat and the decomposing head.  It really freaked her out and in her panic she attached herself to the nearest living thing.  The nearest thing just so happened to be Zero and he did not seem happy about it.  At least she hadn't done it a second time, which would've been even worse.  But now the movie was over and she was channel surfing again.

            She cautiously glanced at Zero from the corner of her eye.  He was still gazing straight ahead, eyes empty and unfocused as ever.  No matter what flickered across the screen his expression remained unchanged.  _How can he do that?  _She wondered.  And something else about him was bothering her, something about the way he reacted to her jumping on him, but what was it?  Kitty stopped her channel surfing as she struggled to figure it out, not that Zero noticed.  She replayed the scene over and over in her mind seeking clues to the puzzle.

            Then it hit her.  When she grabbed him he'd stammered in German.  The only time he ever really spoke in German was in the morning when he was still half asleep and he never ever stumbled over the words.  And the whole time she'd been touching him he'd been as stiff as a board, completely different than his normal limp posture.  Could it be that he was afraid of her?  Or was it that he was afraid of being touched?  Or maybe she'd just surprised him.  What ever the reason was she planned to take advantage of it.

            Kitty stealthily scooted up next to him and snuggled against his side.  Instantly he tensed up, she could almost feel his fur prickling up beneath his shirt.  She forced herself not to squirm or flinch away, determined not look any weaker to him than she already did.  Normally she wouldn't go out of her way to torment anyone, it wasn't her nature.  But he had her sitting scared in her room for a whole week for apparently no reason at all.  Now was her chance to get back at him for one long week of unwarranted fear and boredom and she wasn't going to miss it.  Now it was his turn to squirm.  She noted the time, just past four o'clock, and returned to channel surfing while she waited for Mr. Logan to return.

            Channel after channel whizzed by but it seemed that nothing remotely interesting was on.  Kitty sighed in frustration; she was almost to the end of the available channels and still hadn't found anything to watch.  Nothing but reruns, cheesy made for TV movies, and mind numbing infomercials.  She snuck a peek at Zero to better gauge his reaction to her using him as a pillow.  His glittering yellow eyes stared right back at her.  She resisted the almost overwhelming urge to phase through the couch and floor and met his gaze without flinching.  Kitty forced herself to give him one of her brightest, most cheerful smiles, the kind she usually reserved for Piotr.

            "Hi."  She chirped.  Zero stared blankly back at her.  _Well this is going well, she thought sarcastically.  The silence began to get on her already frayed nerves and she decided to try and strike up a conversation again.  "What's your name?"  She curiously asked.  Zero blinked slowly looking at her like she had suddenly grown a third eye or something like that.  "I mean what's your __real name."  Kitty clarified.  Zero remained silent.  Kitty's patience quickly wore thin.  "Come on, what's your name?"  She pleaded.  Again he gave her no answer.  She pouted cutely and snuggled even closer to him.  "Pretty please tell me?"  She begged in a childish voice.  Zero leaned as far away from her as he was able, which wasn't very far, looking nervous and confused._

            "Huh?"  He squeaked.  _Did he even hear what I asked him?  _Kitty wondered as she struggled to keep up her super cute act.  _If Rogue was here she'd probably complain that I was so sugary that I was giving her cavities or something.  Kitty thought._

            "Pretty, pretty please tell me your name?"  Kitty pleaded, pouring on all the cuteness she could muster.  Not even Logan could resist her at this point.  Zero resembled the classic 'deer caught in the headlights', wide-eyed and completely still.  Kitty was about to try again when she was interrupted.

            "Half-pint, what are you doing?"  A gruff voice asked.  Kitty detached herself from Zero and turned back to see Logan standing by the door heavily laden with plastic grocery bags.  She couldn't quite tell if he was annoyed or amused by her actions.

            "Just practicing my interrogation skills."  Kitty replied innocently.

            "Sure you were."  Logan sighed.  "Come over here and give a hand with this."  He grumbled.  Kitty hurried over to the older Mutant to lighten his load.

            "What did you get?"  Kitty asked curiously.

            "What does it look like I got?"  Logan replied.

            "That's not an  answer."  She pouted as they entered the kitchen.

            "Yes it is."  Logan growled.

            "No it isn't."  Kitty argued.

            "Yes it is."  Logan replied.

            "No it isn't!"  Kitty complained.

            The two continued back and forth with their little argument as they unpacked the food leaving Zero alone on the couch.

***

            Zero sat looking blankly off into space.  Dinner had been quiet as usual.  Mr. Logan and Kitty seemed in deep conversation about something while he ate in silence.  He hadn't really heard anything they said as his mind was still spinning from what Kitty had done.  It still was spinning.  Why on earth had she touched him like that?  The first time she'd jumped on him had obviously been an accident but the second time had definitely been intentional.  But why?  He somehow doubted her excuse of practicing her 'interrogation skills' as the main reason.  But what other reason could there be?  Most people, especially girls, avoided making physical contact with him as his fur seemed to disturb them.  Girls also tended to scream and run away or cry when they saw his true form so why would she willingly touch him like that?  He just couldn't figure it out.

            Zero slumped back against the leather backseat of the black SUV feeling a bit lost.  Bright colored lights glittered and flashed all around seeking to draw the attention of potential customers to their respective establishments.  Not that Zero really noticed any of it, it was all just a swirl of color to him, nothing more.  His only concern was getting the job done.  Or at least that's how it was supposed to be.  At the moment his mind remained occupied with the events of several hours previous.  He couldn't figure out why she'd done it and this unanswered question refused to let him focus on the present.  If he couldn't focus then he would be unable to gather the necessary information and that would be a bad thing.

            Before he could think any further on it they had arrived at their destination.  The building that housed the Blue Lotus nightclub was nothing special.  The structure was made of rust colored brick and concrete and was only distinguishable as a nightclub by its blue neon sign above the main entrance.  The sidewalk out front was covered with a scattering of teens and young adults standing in small to medium sized groups.  Zero studied them all as he climbed out of the vehicle searching for anyone suspicious in the crowd.  He saw no one but that was no reason to let his guard slip.  Zero pulled his dark leather jacket closed against the chilly October wind as he waited for Kitty to finish talking with Mr. Logan so they could go inside.  When Kitty had finished talking she cheerfully bounced over and paid for them to get in.  Once they entered the Blue Lotus they could tell that it definitely was a nightclub.

            It was lit by blue neon tubes and dark lights giving everything an eerie dim blue cast.  The dance floor filled nearly half the spacious room and was covered in black and white tile and lit by flickering blue and white lights along with a couple of disco balls.  The whole giant room pulsed with techno dance music that had a distinctive Asian flavor to it.  Everywhere you looked there were people dancing, eating, drinking, smoking, kissing, talking, or getting high on something illegal.

            "I'll check with you every hour, okay?"  Kitty half shouted in Zero's ear.  Before he could respond she had vanished into the crowd.  He stood blankly watching the crowd move and shift for several minutes before carefully weaving through the fluid mass of partying people.  This put him more on edge than Kitty had, here no one knew what he was and they couldn't find out.  If anyone touched him he was through.  His tail curled around his leg with bruising force and he buried his hands deep in his pockets to minimize the risk of any accidental contact.  He headed for a shadowy deserted booth next to the dance floor.  Once he seated himself in the black and blue booth he strained his ears for any random scrap of information that might prove useful.

            Time seemed to crawl by as Zero nervously watched the crowd of late night partiers dance and drink and get more and more wild.  He sat in constant fear of some drunken idiot crashing into him and possibly damaging his all-important holo-watch and blowing his cover.  The strange music hurt his ears and gave him a headache not to mention making it almost impossible to hear anything at all.  True to her word, Kitty reappeared an hour later, but only to pass him a drink and disappear again.  The whole night followed a similar pattern, each hour Kitty would pass by his table, sometimes leaving him a drink, then go off somewhere else.  By the time midnight rolled around Zero was a nervous wreck wired on caffeine though he didn't look it.

            At one o'clock it was time to go and Kitty came to collect him.  She snagged him by the wrist and towed him haphazardly through the drunken stoned crowd.  It was all he could do to keep from touching anyone as Kitty was oblivious to his predicament.  As soon as they walked out the door they were hit by a cold blast of air made sharper by the extreme difference in temperature.  He stumbled after Kitty as she proceeded to drag him down the street by his wrist.  He grew more and more confused the further they went from the club.  Shouldn't they wait for Mr. Logan to come and get them?  And why was she still touching him?

            Finally about five or six blocks from the club she let go of him.  As soon as he was free of her Zero quickly put as much distance between them as he could without ending up in the street.  Kitty looked at him strangely but he ignored her, he couldn't take being near anybody at the moment.  

            "What's up with you?"  Kitty just had to ask.

            "Nothing."  He snapped.  The sudden animation and emotion in his voice threw Kitty for loop.  He almost sounded normal if not for his German accent.

            "Um, if you say so."  She nervously replied pulling her thin black coat tighter around her shoulders.  He glared sideways at her as his confusion combined with stress and caffeine boiled over into irrational hostility.  Kitty edged away from Zero till she was almost brushing against the nearby buildings.  They continued walking in silence down the nearly deserted streets heading back towards the apartment.  Zero couldn't wait to get back there, then he would finally be able to relax.  

            "So, uh, back in Germany what do they call you?"  Kitty asked trying to strike up a conversation yet again.

            "DX-0."  He growled.

            "I mean besides that."  Kitty replied.

            "Null."  He responded.

            "And what does that mean?"  She asked curiously.

            "Zero."  He answered.  She sighed in frustration.

            "Anything else besides that?"  Kitty asked.  Zero remained silent.  Kitty glared daggers at him but simply looked the other way.  "An answer would be nice."  She grumbled.

            "Die Nachtgleiskette."  Zero growled.

            "And in English that is..."  Kitty trailed off waiting for him to fill in the blank.

            "The Nightcrawler."  He replied.

            "Oh cool!"  She chirped.  "I like that."

            "Why do you care?"  He grumbled.

            "Well, because I figured that you could use a codename."  She replied.

            "What?"  He demanded.

            "You know, a codename, everyone I work with has one."  Kitty explained.  At his blank look she elaborated.  "Like mine is Shadowcat and Mr. Logan's is Wolverine."

            "Oh."  He muttered.  Before Kitty could try and talk about anything else they had arrived back 'home'.  Zero was glad, now she'd shut up.  Kitty scrambled off to get ready for bed while Zero struggled to calm down.  It was nearly three in the morning by the time he was calm enough to sleep.  Kitty was already deep in sleep by the time he settled down on his bed.  A few short minutes later he too had succumbed to the numbing grip of unconsciousness.  And for awhile he was at peace.


	10. Saturday Morning

***Chapter 9***

**~Saturday Morning~**

            Kitty gazed up at the bottom of Zero's bed as her sleepy mind reviewed the events of the previous night.  The Blue Lotus had been an absolute blast.  She had met some really cool people and had the time of her life on the dance floor.  There had been drugs all over the place of course but she knew better.  Never accept anything from anyone and always guard your drink.  She'd had no problems whatsoever but she hadn't learned anything either.  That was okay, it would be beyond lucky to find out anything the first time out.  She had to work her way into the regulars' night scene and form some contacts before she had any real hope of collecting meaningful information.  It would take time but it would work.

            Zero's method seemed a bit chancier to her.  He just sat at one table all by himself and waited for the information to come to him instead of chasing it as she did.  He had looked so lonely when she'd checked in with him that she felt a little sorry for him.  Whenever she'd bought a drink, she bought one for him too to help keep the poor guy awake.  Just sitting there like that for hours couldn't have been easy on him.  But then again he spent twice as much time unmoving in front of the TV so maybe that was normal for him.  Though she noticed that, as the evening progressed, he became increasingly nervous and twitchy.  Maybe it was the crowd of strangers, or all of the caffeine that had been in the pop she'd given him, but whatever it was it had pushed him near his breaking point by the time they left.

            He was still so wound up after they'd left that when she'd tried to engage him in friendly conversation he'd snapped at her.  He had actually expressed some emotion last night and it had startled her.  Perhaps he wasn't the cold emotionless zombie that she thought he was.  On the other hand, maybe caffeine just had a really weird effect on his brain chemistry.  But at least she'd gotten what she wanted from him.  Now he had a codename thanks to his 'buddies' back in Germany.  _Nightcrawler, how very interesting, I wonder how they came up with that.  _Kitty wondered.  She pondered this for a few minutes more before finally dragging herself out of bed to start the day.

            She tiredly scrubbed the sleep from her eyes and pulled her fingers through her sleep-tangled hair as she sat at the edge of her bed.  She peered at the clock, 10:00 AM, good thing she'd turned off the alarm.  Kitty slowly crawled up the ladder to give Zero his morning wake up call.  At the top, she cleared her throat, pulled her face into a bright cheerful expression, and gave his shoulder a shove.

            "It's ten o'clock, time to get up!"  She chirped.  No response.  "Hey Zero, wakey wakey!"  Again, nothing.  "Yo Nightcrawler, it is late, time to get out of bed."  She tried again raising her voice slightly.  Still nothing.  She growled in frustration.  Why must he make things so difficult?  She smacked him in the side and he barely flinched.  If she didn't get him up soon it would be lunchtime.  "Oh come on, please get up."  She whined, unable to keep up the cheerful act any longer.  Not a twitch.  Kitty narrowed her eyes into her best glare before she reached through his sheets, grabbed his devil tail, and gave it a good yank.  The next thing she knew there was a faint flash of light, a strange BAMFing sort of sound, and an expanding, foul smelling ring of dark smoke.  By the time it cleared, there was no sign of the German Mutant anywhere.

            "Uh, hello?  Zero?  Where are you?"  She called out nervously.  There was no immediate response.  Kitty quickly slid down the ladder and darted out of the bedroom in search of her wayward roommate.  He hadn't gone very far.  She found him sprawled awkwardly over the couch in front of the TV.  He looked really mad.  

            "Never, _ever touch my tail."  He growled, glaring darkly at her._

            "Right, don't touch the tail, got it." She quickly agreed.  Kitty then scampered off to take a quick shower and get away from Zero.  _Why does he have to be so mean to me?  All I do is try to be friendly and he either ignores me or gets mad at me.  I spent good money on those drinks for him and he never once said thank you.  And every morning I wake him up so he doesn't sleep in and he gets all grouchy.  __And I thought I wasn't a morning person.  She thought as she stepped into the cramped shower and turned on the water just hot enough to drive the last shreds of sleep from her brain._

***

            Zero slumped tiredly down into the old beat-up couch.  Why couldn't she have just left him alone?  If he wanted anything, it was to be left alone.  Back at the Facility, that's pretty much what they did.  They left him alone most of the time, they gave up trying to talk to him a long time ago.  But here in America this crazy, confusing American girl insisted on trying, she just did not understand.  She could not understand.  No one could.  His brief solitude abruptly ended as Kitty returned from her shower.  

            "Shower's free!"  She called over her shoulder as she vanished into the tiny kitchen.  Zero wearily picked himself up off the comfy old couch and made his way to the bathroom after a quick detour to grab some clean clothes.  He turned the heat on high and just let the steaming hot water pour over him for a while to burn away the last hints of sleep from his mind.  After he finished washing his hair and fur, it was time to towel dry and get dressed.  Once that was completed, it was time for breakfast.  He found Kitty in the kitchen making something.

            "There you are."  Kitty chirped.  "I made some breakfast."  She said as she handed him a plate.  Freshly made pancakes instead of frozen waffles today.  He seated himself at the table, cut a piece of the somewhat crumbly pancake, and took a bite.  That was a mistake.  The pancake had a gritty texture to it like it was made with sand and it tasted like vinegar.  It was all he could do to swallow the disgusting stuff.  He quickly gulped down the glass of orange juice that Kitty had poured for him to wash the foul taste from his mouth.  Once his eyes stopped watering he glared at her.

            "What?"  She asked innocently.

            "What do you mean 'what'?"  He growled.

            "What's the matter, why are you mad?"  She nervously asked.

            "What did you put in these?"  He growled gesturing towards the questionable pancakes.

            "Oh the sort of stuff you put in pancakes.  Why do you ask?  Don't they taste alright?"  She asked with mild concern.

            "No, they don't."  He flatly replied.

            "Well sorry then.  I didn't mean to mess up."  She apologized.  "I don't even know what I did wrong.  There's always next time I guess."  Kitty mumbled to herself.  Somehow hearing this gave Zero a deep feeling of foreboding.  Kitty cleared off the table, threw out the bad pancake batter, and returned to the good old frozen waffles.  Breakfast continued from there the same as it usually did.  Once Zero finished eating and cleared his place he headed off for the TV.

            Zero collapsed onto the age worn couch and reached for the remote to turn on the TV and escape his mind for a while.  By the time his hand arrived at the spot where the remote had been it was gone.  It took a moment for this fact to register.  Zero slowly turned to see that Kitty was sitting in the same position that she had yesterday and was channel surfing with the missing remote.  He blinked slowly.  Hadn't she at least asked him nicely last time?  For a fleeting moment, he seriously considered protesting her actions but the notion quickly passed.  Why waste the energy?  It didn't really matter anyway.  So he settled in to watch whatever it was that she wanted to watch.

            What she wanted to watch just so happened to be 'SpongeBob Squarepants'.  The instant he saw it a little alarm went off somewhere deep in his brain.  The introduction, the characters, the plot, or lack thereof all screamed at him that this show could drive certain individuals to increasing levels of stupidity.  The moronic and simple actions of the 'star' of the show made him want to squirm.  By the third episode, he could take no more.

            "Why are you watching this?"  He asked.  Kitty started at his unexpected question.

            "Why do you care?"  She countered.

            "Because this is stupid."  He replied.

            "And watching the public access channel and infomercials isn't?"  Kitty asked.

            "I don't really watch those, they're just a way to distract my mind.  This is just plain annoying."  Zero answered.

            "Well if you find it that annoying you can just leave.  I've waited weeks for this marathon and I don't intend to miss it."  She firmly replied; there was no way he could change her mind on this.

            "What do you see in this show anyway?"  He asked.

            "It's funny."  She tersely replied as she refocused on the childishly simple cartoon.  Zero sighed unable to take anymore of SpongeBob and Patrick tormenting Squidward.  He slowly rose up off the couch and returned to the bedroom.  Zero climbed up the ladder and sank down on his bed striving to clear his mind.  But no matter what he tried, it didn't work.  The apartment was so small and the walls were so thin that the sound easily leaked through to assault his ears.  After a good hour or so, he gave in.  There was no escape.  And so the rest of the day passed with Kitty glued to the TV screen and Zero lying on the top bunk praying for it all to end.


	11. Blue Lotus

***Chapter 10***

**~Blue Lotus~**

            At eight o'clock, the SpongeBob marathon finally ended.  Kitty stretched out her stiff limbs before slowly rising off the couch that she had occupied most of the day.  She looked around the seemingly empty apartment for her companions.  She found a note from Logan on the fridge.  It seemed that he'd gone off to work on something and wouldn't make it back for dinner; in fact, he probably wouldn't be back until tomorrow.  _Great, now we have to walk both ways.  She mentally grumbled.  _Now where did Zero go?  _Kitty wondered.  Kitty checked the living room, the kitchen/dinning room, the bathroom, Logan's room (just in case), and finally their room.  She found him curled into a ball on his bed with his pillow pulled over his head._

            "What are you doing?"  Kitty asked as she balanced on the ladder.  He remained silent.  "Can you even hear me?"  She demanded raising her voice slightly.  Still he said nothing.  She suppressed a sigh, reached forward, and phased the pillow out of his grip.  "What are you doing?"  Kitty asked again.  He blinked owlishly in surprise.  When he still didn't answer, she poked him in the side.  "Well?"

            "Uh, nothing."  He mumbled as he twisted away from her.

            "Right.  Well it's time for dinner so come down and help me."  She commanded.  Kitty slid down the ladder and scampered into the kitchen to sort through their supply of frozen pizza.  She selected a medium sized cheese pizza and prepared to put it in the oven, but before she could, Zero snatched it away from her and studied the instructions.

            "Hey!"  She exclaimed.  "What the heck are you doing?"

            "Reading the directions."  He calmly replied.  "You are supposed to preheat the oven first."  He added after a moment, twisting the dial to the correct temperature.

            "Without the pizza in it?"  Kitty asked confusedly.

            "_Ja, without the pizza in it."  Zero flatly confirmed._

            "So that's why all my pizzas came out still cold."  Kitty muttered to herself.  Zero stared incredulously at her.

            "Do you ever read the directions?"  He asked.

            "Only when I have to."  Kitty replied.  Zero slowly shook his head.  "What?"  Kitty demanded.  Zero didn't answer; he simply turned and went to wait for the pizza to be ready by the TV.  She glared at his retreating back but he failed to notice.  Barely a minute after he vanished from her line of sight she heard the hushed buzz of the TV turning on.  Kitty sighed as she leaned back against the counter.  _What's the matter with not reading the directions?  I think I'm smart enough to figure out most stuff on my own.  She thought stubbornly.  __I've done it plenty of times before and everything worked out just fine._

_            Why is he so stiff and cold all the time?  _Kitty wondered shifting her focus to the German Mutant sitting in the adjoining room.  _I try so hard to get along with him but he has to make some effort too and he isn't.  I try to talk to him and he ignores me.  I tried to make him a nice breakfast, which for some reason doesn't turn out quite right, and he gives me a nasty look like I did it on purpose.  If I had any real choice in this I'd have given up and left last week, but I don't.  _Kitty thought, she washed her hands in the small stainless steel kitchen sink._  Not that I'm a quitter or anything.  _

She dried her hands on a ragged dishtowel as she peered through the doorway to spy in on Zero.  He was completely lost in the glow of the television screen, aware of little, if anything, else.  Kitty turned back to the small kitchen and looked up at the wall clock.  The oven had preheated long enough, she tossed the frozen disk into the oven and checked the directions this time (just to make sure) before setting the timer.  Now that everything was set, she wandered over to where Zero sat spacing out on the flickering electronic screen.

***

            Zero sat relaxing in front of the television at peace for the first time today.  First, he'd woken up to a rude and painful yank on his tail, which resulted in an unplanned teleportation.  Then, there'd been those pancakes; he shuddered at the memory of their foul taste.  And finally, there was that SpongeBob cartoon marathon that lasted all day long and grated on his nerves like sandpaper.  But that was all over now, and, for the moment, all was well.  Or maybe not.

            He felt the couch shift slightly beneath him and heard the faint creak of springs as Kitty sat down next to him.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her sitting with her knees hugged to her chest impassively watching the news announce the dismal happenings of the world.  Zero refocused on the TV but remained aware of her presence, he didn't want to experience a repeat of the 'Jaws' incident.  Thankfully, she kept to herself this time.

            About a half an hour later the oven timer shrieked signaling that dinner was ready.  Kitty hurried off to turn the oven off and remove the pizza while Zero slowly turned off the TV and made his way to the kitchen.  When he entered the cramped kitchen /dinning room, he found Kitty struggling to slice the cheese pizza.  The steel pizza cutter skittered through the cheese while completely failing to cut through the crust.  She looked frustrated and maybe a little bit desperate as she continued her losing battle with the uncuttable pizza.

            Zero watched her silently for a minute or so more before he came to a decision.  Kitty flinched in surprise as Zero took the cutter from her hand and completed the task of slicing up the stubborn pizza.  They weren't the neatest slices in the world but he'd never cut a pizza before so they were good enough, not that he really cared if they were or not.  He silently passed her a plate before filling his own and sitting down to eat.

            "Thanks."  She timidly said.

            "You are welcome."  He mumbled.  They ate in silence, with Mr. Logan gone Kitty had no one to talk to.  There were times when Kitty would open her mouth to say something but then she'd change her mind and shut it again.  Zero could tell that she was relieved when they finished dinner.  She quickly dumped her plate in the sink and scurried off to change.  Zero sighed at her foolishness; he thought it was silly to change just because you were going somewhere when what you were wearing at the moment was just fine.  It took almost an hour for her to finish her pointless primping and meet him by the door.  Zero activated his holographic disguise and waited until the shimmering image of light stabilized before he followed Kitty out of the building.

            He was confused when he found that Mr. Logan wasn't waiting for them in the black SUV.  Come to think of it, where had the older Mutant been during dinner?  Kitty, however, seemed quite confident as she kept on walking not once pausing to look or wait for the older man.  Zero hesitantly followed her lead; it appeared that they would be walking both ways tonight.  This would take longer giving him more time to think about what awaited him.  He shivered at the very thought of the crazy club crowds and his tail reflexively tightened around his leg.  But he'd survived last night so he could do it again, right?

***

            Kitty walked along at a brisk pace trying to get to the club as quickly as possible.  It was cold and windy outside and her partying outfit wasn't much protection against it.  She rubbed her hands together in a futile attempt to gain some extra heat through friction, but in the end, she just felt colder.  _Hey, did I just see my breath?  She idly wondered.  The chill air made the long walk seem like hours when it was barely 15 minutes away.  By the time, the Blue Lotus was in sight Kitty felt like a human ice cube._

            She hurriedly wove through the clustered groups of people that congregated in front of the popular nightspot.  She quickly paid the admission fee for two people and roughly pulled her reluctant partner inside.  Kitty gratefully entered the club reveling in the sudden warmth and surge of energetic dance music.  She half-shouted a promise to touch base every hour to Zero before walking away.  Kitty ignored his lost and mildly confused look; she had things to do, people to meet, and not enough time to do it in.

            The first person Kitty found was Amanda Sefton.  Kitty met her last night as she got acquainted with the club.  She seemed nice enough and Kitty quickly made friends with her.  The African girl probably wasn't connected to her mission but there were times when it was nice just to have a friend.  They danced, chatted about the latest episode of 'Friends', and spent an hour or two guy watching.  They moved around the club meeting up with some of Amanda's crowd and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Kitty knew she should be on the lookout for anyone suspicious but right now, she didn't care, she was having too much fun.  _This is way better than spending the whole day cooped up in that tiny apartment with Zero!  _Kitty thought.  But then something else occurred to her.  _What time is it?  _She peeked at her watch and was shocked to discover that four hours had somehow passed.

            "Oh crap!"  Kitty hissed; she hadn't checked in with Zero once.

            "What?"  Amanda half-shouted over the noise.

            "I promised someone that I'd stop by and say hi and I completely forgot about it!  Now I'm super late!"  Kitty cried.

            "Who?"  Amanda yelled back curiously.

"I'll be right back!"  Kitty shouted over her shoulder as she hurried off through the dense crowd.  She made a quick stop at the bar and bought a 7up before pushing her way through the sea of people seeking her partner.  Thankfully, he wasn't hard to find.  He was sitting in the same spot as last time, the perfect picture of bored indifference.  _Maybe I didn't have to be so worried after all.  _Kitty mused as she observed the young German Mutant.  But the instant she slid him the pop can his demeanor completely changed.  He looked up sharply at her his eyes revealing his nervousness and maybe even a little bit of panic.  Zero relaxed only slightly when he recognized her.

            "Where were you?"  He quietly demanded.

            "Lost track of time."  Kitty explained.  "Sorry."  Before he could respond, she slipped off again satisfied that Zero would last a few hours longer.  

            "Who did you have to meet?"  Amanda called as the two girls met back up on the far side of the dance floor.

            "Nobody special."  Kitty replied dismissively.  "Now what were we talking about?"  Kitty asked changing the subject.  Amanda looked as if she might ask more but let it drop.  They gossiped for the rest of the night on everything from movies and television series to crushes and boyfriends.  The night was near perfect except for when some random drunk guy decided to bother them.  Luck for them another guy came to their rescue and dragged the drunk away.  Their savior returned shortly after to make sure that they were all right.  Before Kitty could strike up a conversation with the handsome teen her wristwatch alarm screamed for attention.  It was time to go.

            Kitty reluctantly said her good-byes and went to fetch Zero.  She roughly dragged him out of the Blue Lotus without a word, not that he would care, he never cared about anything.  The biting cold air hit her like a slap across the face as she shoved Zero out the door, but she pressed on.  The faster she went the sooner she'd get home.  Once they were past the crowd around the club, she let go of him and he eagerly put some distance between them.  She hurried on ahead while he trailed a few steps behind.  The streets were virtually devoid of people, but that was to be expected at such a late hour, not that this fact made Kitty feel any better about it.  

            She spotted Zero out of the corner of her eye as he silently trudged on.  She watched as he passed in and out of the shafts of illumination provided by the street lamps.  Seeing him this way reminded her of a shadow, a colorless, featureless reflection.  Zero was just like one, an empty reflection of a person who followed the commands of others without question or thought.  Kitty wondered if there was even a real person in there anymore, it certainly didn't look like it to her.  She shivered.

            Kitty hurriedly pressed on home to escape the cold October night and the unnerving silence of Zero's company.  She sighed in relief when the cracked facade of the apartment building finally came into view.  She scampered up the front steps and up several flights of stairs before arriving at door number 19, home.  Kitty was so eager to get inside she didn't bother unlocking the door and simply phased through it instead leaving Zero to find his own way in.  _Now for a shower.  Just what I need to help me relax before bed!_


	12. Close Encounter

***Chapter 11***

**~Close Encounter~**

            Zero sullenly hunched over his half-empty can of 7up as he sat waiting in his customary booth in a shady corner of the Blue Lotus nightclub.  He'd been waiting for so long that what was left of his drink had gone warm and almost completely flat.  But he didn't care about that; he was concerned with other things.  To an outside observer, he looked like a bored people watcher, a person who went to clubs simply to watch other people party and get stoned for fun.  Inside, however, was a completely different story.

            Beneath his high-tech holographic disguise, he was teetering on the edge of either a nervous breakdown or a panic attack.  His tail nervously coiled and uncoiled around his leg as his eyes constantly scanned the party crowd.  Impatiently he tapped one of his fingers, though the hologram made it look like two, against the side of his 7up can.  Zero's ears strained to pick up a certain voice or name buried in the roar of drunken laughter and teeth rattling techno music.  But he neither heard nor saw any sign of the person he was waiting for.

            Zero shakily lifted the aluminum pop can to his lips in a vain attempt to calm his frayed nerves.  _Where the Hell is she!?  Doesn't she know what time it is?  Does she care?  Is her watch broken?  Or is she just not looking at it?  What on earth is she doing?  She should have stopped by at least once by now...so why hasn't she?  Honestly, we've been at this for over a month, she should know how things are supposed to go by now...right?  _Zero nearly slammed the now empty 7up can down on the black and neon blue-flecked table, giving hint to his dark inner mood.  He flinched slightly when he noticed the dents on the rim left by his fangs.  _Oh verdammt!_

Zero struggled not to squirm as he returned his attention to scanning the crowd for his 'partner' Kitty.  When they first began their surveillance of the Blue Lotus, she promised to check in with him every hour and for the most part, she kept it.  But as the days went on, she began to forget her promise.  Now he was lucky if she showed once all night and that was a problem for him.  Before, he was able to focus on his job knowing that Kitty was safe and doing her part of the job.  But now when she did not appear on schedule his mind drowned in worrying thoughts and he found it impossible to focus on his mission.

            With a barely suppressed growl, Zero gave into the overwhelming temptation and glanced down at this holo-watch.  He then proceeded in a calm, quiet tone of voice to utter every single German curse he knew while crushing the empty can with one fist.  Mr. Logan had always told them to leave the club at 1:00 AM at the very latest; it was now almost 2:30 AM.  Once he had exhausted his vocabulary of swears and completely flattened the pop can, he calmly stood and sought out a trashcan before he headed off to find his stray 'partner'.

            Zero slowly, carefully, nervously wove his way through the rowdy crush of partygoers.  His greatest fears was that one of the club revelers would get too close to him and feel his fur or oddly shaped body, or that something would damage his holo-watch and reveal his appearance to all present.  Aside from that, crowds (especially large rowdy ones) tended to dredge up old childhood fears and nightmares.  They reminded him of old monster movies where the villagers form into a murderous mob armed with torches, pitch forks, and crosses before they set off to lynch the villain or monster that 'threatened' them.  Watching those films always gave him nightmares that _he _was the target of the torch-bearing mob.

            It was nearly 3:00 AM when Zero finally found the missing Kitty.  She was in a shady corner curled up in the lap of a young man who looked to be a club bouncer and totally oblivious to anything else.  This time he didn't bother trying to smother the growl that emerged from his throat, the music was so loud that only some one standing right next to him could hope to hear it anyway so he was safe.  He glared foul-temperedly at the foolish sixteen-year-old as he waited for her to notice his presence.  She, however, remained ignorant of all else but the young man who held her, constantly giggling and flashing the man radiant smiles.  Zero felt like he was going to explode.

            "Hey there, can I help you with something?"  A voice half-shouted in Zero's ear and he jumped.  The person who had spoken to him turned out to be a young, moderately pretty, African girl.  Zero looked blankly at her.  "I said can I help you with something?"  She asked again.  Zero remained silent for a moment as he contemplated his answer.  This seemed to bother the dark-skinned girl.  "Do you want to talk to Kitty or something?"  She nervously asked.

            "No."  He said finally.  "I was just getting ready to leave."  Zero replied.

            Then, without another word or a backwards glance, he turned and left.  He was perfectly aware of the trouble he was probably getting himself into, but he honestly didn't care.  She would be in just as much trouble, if not more, when Mr. Logan found about what she was doing.  And, for some reason, he felt really angry at her too.  This strange, irrational anger burned inside him and even when the chilly November wind hit his body, it failed to cool or calm him.  With a final glare at the neon blue sign of the club, Zero turned and headed for home.

***

            Kitty Pryde was having the time of her life.  The first night she'd come to this club had been great and every time she came back it only got better.  The first night she met a nice fun girl named Amanda Sefton and quickly became friends with her.  Then on the second night, she had a close encounter with the cute bouncer in whose lap she was currently sitting, but had to leave before she could get his name and number.  So on the third night finding that information became a second (and unofficial) mission, and within an hour, she had succeeded.  From that day on, she divided her time between hanging with Amanda and hanging on the super cute bouncer, Lance Alvers.  Perhaps this was God's way of apologizing to her for the bad start to this mission and trapping her with a boring, blue, German furball.

            _Speaking of furballs, I wonder if I should go over and talk to him now...?  _Kitty thought idly.  She gazed up again at Lance's handsome face for the millionth time that night and came up with her answer.  _Nah!  Fuzz boy can wait a little bit longer.  _Young Shadowcat was about to surrender herself to a pleasant daydream involving several different romantic dates with the current object of her interest when Amanda poked her in the shoulder.

            "What?"  Kitty shouted over the loud music as she turned.  Amanda signaled to her that she wanted to talk in a quiet, private place.  Kitty excused herself with a promise to return quickly and followed her friend off to the girl's bathroom.  "What?"  Kitty repeated once they were safely inside.

            "Do you have a boyfriend?"  Amanda bluntly asked.

            "No."  Kitty replied slowly.

            "How about an ex-boyfriend?"  Amanda pressed.

            "No, why?"  Kitty replied sounding very confused.

            "I was asking because this weird guy came up to you and Lance and he seemed really pissed.  I asked if he wanted to talk to you but he said no and left.  He was seriously creepy and I think he was foreign too because he had this weird accent.  I thought that maybe he was some old boyfriend turned stalker or something."  Amanda explained.  Kitty snorted, like anybody would stalk _her_!  But what Amanda said about this creepy mystery guy having a weird accent made her think.  She glanced down at her watch and instantly switched to panic mode.

            "Oh shit!  I'm so unbelievably screwed!"  Kitty wailed.

            "What, why?"  Amanda asked with concern.

            "Oh my God how did it get to be so late already!?  Or is it early?  Anyway, I'm _way _past my Uncle's curfew!  If I don't get home soon I'm going to die!"  Kitty cried.

            "Well then you'd better hurry."  Amanda warned.

            "Right, I'll see you Friday!"  Kitty called over her shoulder.  _At least I hope I will.  _She thought grimly to herself while she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd.  With a rushed apology to Lance, she grabbed her coat and dashed out of the Blue Lotus at top speed.

            _God damn that jerk!  I was having such a great night too.  _Kitty mentally grumbled while she sprinted for home.  _That damn furball better not beat me home!  _She mentally threatened the young German.  If he got home before her, not only would he be in trouble, but so would she.  He'd seen her with Lance and would tell Logan all about it if he was asked.  Then Logan would mercilessly grill her about Lance and if she failed to give a convincing, satisfying answer for her actions, he would hunt down the bouncer and warn him off with threats of a slow, tortuous death.  Hopefully she could catch up and avert this disaster before it could happen.

            The cold autumn air burned her lungs and the chill November wind drove icy needles deep into any uncovered skin.  The tall buildings around her reflected and distorted the loud thuds of her shoes as they pounded against the sidewalk as she ran through the nearly deserted late night/early morning Chicago streets.  Kitty narrowed her eyes and peered ahead through the regular pools of light provided by street lamps as she searched for any sign of the wayward Nightcrawler.  Then, when she was barely three blocks from home, she saw him.

            He was less than a block from the apartment building's front door walking at his normal sedate pace.  Kitty glared darkly at Zero's back as he obliviously continued on his way.  Kitty put on a final burst of speed and locked her sights on Nightcrawler's back, the fuzzball was going down.  As the distance between them swiftly vanished, Zero appeared to slow before he stopped completely.  Kitty supposed he must have finally heard the loud echoes of her shoes crashing into the pavement.  Less than two yards remained when Zero began to turn, less than one yard left and Kitty jumped, and then they collided.

***

            Zero lay sprawled on the cold, hard ground in a daze.  Oh yeah, there was a girl on top of him too, couldn't forget that part.  Beyond that, he knew nothing; his brain seemed to be suffering from a catastrophic meltdown.  For a moment, all he could do was stare dazedly up at her while she fought to catch her breath.  Zero blinked slowly as he waited for his fritzing brain to reboot on its own.  It didn't.

            Seeing as his brain wasn't coming back online on it's own and the girl only looked to be getting more angry, Zero decided to try and kick start his thought processes himself.  He began by asking questions.  _Why am I on the ground with a girl on top of me?  _She'd run him down and tackled him.  _Why did she run me down like that?  _Because he'd made her mad.  _What did I do to anger her so much?  _He'd left her behind at the club.  _Why did I do that?  _Because it was late and he got mad.  Something deep inside clicked, and it all came flooding back; he narrowed his eyes.  _Oh yeah..._

"You jerk!"  Kitty snarled.

            "How am I a jerk?  You are the one who ran into me!"  Zero snapped back.

            "You ditched me!"  She shouted.

            "So what?  It was getting late and you seemed to be busy with something else so I left."  He sharply replied.  She punched him hard in the shoulder before crawling off of him.  After standing up and straightening out her rumpled clothes she fixed him with an angry glare.

            "True, I was distracted.  _However, _I know for a fact that you saw me and could've easily gotten my attention, _but you didn't.  _You made no effort to speak directly with me and simply left.  If you had tried and I ignored you, then I would understand, but that's not what you did."  Kitty practically spat, her voice icy sharp.

            "You didn't have to jump on me."  Zero grumbled as he slowly pulled himself up off the sidewalk.

            "You pissed me off."  She replied before walking off towards the apartment.  "Oh, and if Mr. Logan asks any questions, let me answer them."  Kitty called over her shoulder.

            "Why should I?"  Zero shot back.

            "Because I told you to."  Kitty snapped impatiently.

            "Why?"  Zero asked again.  Kitty turned back to glare at him.

            "Aren't you tired?"  She growled.

            "_Ja._"  Zero replied slowly, caught off guard by her sudden change of subject.

            "Well then, why don't you just go to bed and leave the questions to me."  Kitty suggested sweetly.  Zero narrowed his eyes.

            "_Nein._"  He growled; he wasn't going to let her get away with this.  Kitty looked furious as she half-snarled, half-growled at him.  She angrily paced from one end of the front steps to the other for several minutes before she appeared to get an idea.

            "Oh I get it!"  She loudly exclaimed with a sly, knowing look upon her face.  "You're jealous because I haven't been paying enough attention to you lately!"  She declared, as her smile grew wider.

            "_W-was!_"  Zero choked.  He could not believe what she had just said.  He stumbled back into the front double doors and blinked at her in shock.  He roughly shook his head in disbelief at her utterly ridiculous statement.  "Th-that isn't true!"  He protested.

            "Oh really..."  She drawled.  "Why else would you be so determined to answer questions that could get me into trouble when you don't have to?"  She asked in a low, quiet voice.  Before Zero could come up with any sort of reply, Kitty slowly sauntered right up to him.  She smiled a strange sort of smile and slowly draped her arms over his shoulders and moved even closer to him.  Zero's brain was now rapidly approaching a second meltdown.  "Well, aren't you going to answer me?"  She asked with an innocent pout.  Zero would've liked to answer her, but his brain refused to work.  He weakly squirmed beneath her in a futile attempt to melt into the door and, for some odd reason, his face felt very hot.

            "F-fine, I-I'll do w-whatever you want!"  Zero managed to stammer in defeat.  He just couldn't take it anymore.

            "Good boy!"  She brightly exclaimed before giving him a brief, bone-crushing hug and a quick peck on the cheek.  Kitty then cheerfully skipped through the still closed door leaving a stunned Zero outside.  The young German numbly raised a shaking hand to the cheek that Kitty had so casually, carelessly kissed.  With a shaky sigh, Zero finally collected himself enough to head inside.  When he reached the apartment door Zero glanced down at his holo-watch.  It was now 3:50 AM.

            "_Gott, ich haße Montagen._"  Zero grumbled darkly.  _God, I hate Mondays..._


	13. Evil Monday

***Chapter 12***

**~Evil Monday~**

            Kitty sighed despondently.  Why was it that during weekdays there was nothing decent on until after four or five PM?  Nothing but bad soap operas, small children's programs, and infomercials, she almost wished she was back in school!  At the moment, she found herself watching a really, _really _bad soap opera about several severely dysfunctional families in Utah.  Kitty glanced at the VCR/DVD player clock to check the time.  The digital display showed it as being 12:05 AM, two minutes past when she had last looked.  With a yawn and a stretch Kitty settled back into the ragged couch and waited.

            Last night had been almost perfect.  She'd had a great time talking with Amanda and hanging out with Lance.  She'd danced until she could dance no more and spent the remainder of the evening sitting with Lance and enjoying herself.  If only that night could've lasted forever.  But no, the clock struck one, Sunday night turned into Monday morning, and things began to unravel from there.  She lost track of time, Zero ditched her, and she almost got into serious hot water with Logan.  Goddamn Mondays!

            Kitty severely disliked being in a bad mood for extended periods of time so she set about cheering herself up.  So what had she heard or seen lately that was funny?  Lance told her all sorts of jokes and silly stories over the past month, but they seemed more amusing when he told them as opposed to remembering them.  Amanda told her funny things too and Kitty giggled a little at the memory of them, but it still failed to fully erase her bad mood.  So what else was there that was funny?  Then she recalled one particular memory of last night and burst out laughing.

            She'd gotten Zero _so_ bad last night!  The look on his face when she'd come on to him was priceless!  Oh, if only she'd had a camera.  His eyes had gone so wide and his face had turned so red it had taken all her self-control not to burst out laughing on the spot.  As her laughing fit subsided, she sighed.  He was so easy to push around once you knew how to get under his skin, er, fur.  Despite his boring personality, he could be so much fun sometimes.  Too bad her fun had been spoiled the instant she walked in the door.

            Kitty shuddered at the memory of that minor nightmare.  Logan had been sitting on the arm of the couch facing the door and grinding a cigar stub between his teeth while he waited for her.  The questioning session that followed had not been pleasant.  It had been difficult, but she managed to deflect any questions from Zero and consequently was forced to shoulder most of the blame for their lateness.  Now she was grounded for the rest of the week while Zero got off with nothing more than a warning.  Kitty was now prohibited from using the phone and leaving the apartment without taking Zero with her.  The only good thing about this grounding was that she still could watch TV or mess with her laptop.  It didn't make up for losing the phone and being chained with Zero if she ever stepped outside of the apartment door though.  

            _Aww crud, there goes my good mood again.  _Kitty mentally grumbled to herself.  _Well it could've been worse.  __Logan__ could've found out about Lance.  Then I'd be grounded for the remainder of the mission and have no life whatsoever.  _Kitty sighed boredly as some woman, Jenny maybe, tried to seduce her mother's current boyfriend in some twisted plot for revenge.  _It may not be as bad, but this still sucks.  _Kitty wrinkled her nose in disgust as the twisted soap plot turned towards a passionate love scene.  _This **really **sucks.  _Kitty quickly flipped the channel.  Now she was watching a weight loss infomercial.  _Oy vey..._

Kitty's mind drifted aimlessly for a while before settling on Lance Alvers.  He was the closest thing to a 'knight in shining armor' she'd ever experienced.  When she and Amanda had been harassed by a rowdy drunk, he'd stepped in to save them.  So what if that was what he was paid to do, Kitty still found it kind of like a childhood fantasy come true.  He was strong, handsome, and kind of sweet in his own way, and Kitty found him fascinating overall.  Lance certainly wasn't a poetic or highly intelligent individual like Piotr was, but he was much closer in age making him far more attainable than the older Russian instructor.  And Lance was better looking than Zero (the only other guy her age that was around), though she secretly thought the German's elfin ears were cute.  All in all, Lance was her best bet for a possible boyfriend.

            Too bad it was highly unlikely that Lance would ever be a long-term boyfriend (if he ever became her boyfriend).  When this mission ended, she would head back to New York while Lance stayed here.  Kitty guessed she could try a long distance thing, but she highly doubted that it would last.  And if she did enter into a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Lance she would have to be very careful.  Not only would she need to be careful about what she told him, she also had to be careful about how close she got to him.  If she got too close things could get really complicated really quick.

            A second reason that she had been interested in him was that he was a club employee.  The Blue Lotus was supposedly a front business for the criminal group that they were sent to investigate, so if she gained Lance as a contact she might finally get some useful information.  So what if Lance was low on the food chain of this business, he'd already bragged to her that he had other, more important jobs to do besides bouncing, he only worked at the club for spare money and to suck up to his other boss.  Hopefully she'd learn just how he was involved in this mess though she was sure that he was just an innocent pawn in the whole scheme of things.  Lance was just too nice and cute to be really bad.

            Kitty was jerked out of her musings by a loud blast of obnoxious music followed by the equally annoying voice of an announcer.  The weight loss infomercial which had been on before had ended and now a very loud and energetic man was demonstrating the virtues of various cleaning products.  Kitty grumbled some incoherent curses under her breath and changed the channel again.  The next channel was just as bad, as was the next channel, and the next.  After Kitty had cycled through all the channels at least three times she switched off the TV and tossed the remote down in disgust.  _God!  Why do Mondays have to be so **evil**?_

***

            Zero lay flat on his back on his bed and stared blankly up at the white, featureless ceiling.  He'd only just woken up two hours ago, and after a quick shower and combination breakfast/lunch, he'd come back here and hadn't moved since.  The reason for this was to avoid coming into contact with Kitty as much as possible.  After last night's (or was it early, early morning's?) sequence of misadventures he was certain that the American girl hated him.  He almost smiled at the memory of the scene he had witnessed when he had finally entered the apartment.

            Kitty had been sitting slumped back on the couch while Mr. Logan slowly paced back and forth in front of her.  He stood in the doorway and watched the interrogation session for a while and found himself feeling very glad that Kitty had forced him to give in to her demand.  The probing questions Mr. Logan had asked and the way he'd asked them brought back painful memories of his early experiences with General Schwarzbaum.  After ten minutes of watching, Zero found he didn't feel very well and hastily headed for bed.  Thankfully Kitty kept Mr. Logan from interrogating him as she had promised she would.

            Zero almost smiled again when he recalled the events of breakfast/lunch.  He and Kitty had both just finished eating when Mr. Logan appeared.  Where he'd been or what he'd been doing before didn't matter to Zero, though Kitty did ask about it.  Instead of answering her, the man revealed their punishment.  Kitty was forbidden from using the phone and leaving the apartment alone for one week.  Zero received a warning and was charged with being Kitty's chaperone when she went outside.  The look on Kitty's face upon hearing this announcement was rather amusing.  She'd looked so mad he was almost afraid that she might explode at the older man.  But she calmed down some and settled into an exaggerated pout.

            Her pout brought up another, more confusing memory.  She'd pouted at him not long ago, last night actually.  Zero squirmed as he remembered how she had hung on him and the looks she'd given him.  His face began to feel warm and his heart rate increased along with his confusion.  Why did he react that way?  Why had he so quickly given in to her?  He didn't have any answer and this confused and slightly frightened him.  Did she have some secondary power over people that made them so uncomfortable and confused they'd agree to anything she wanted them to?  Zero swallowed nervously and shifted to his side and stared at the dark blue wall.  He decided to stop thinking and let the day pass, his favorite activity back at the Facility.

            After a few minutes Zero experienced a terrible epiphany.  He couldn't stop thinking.  The more he lay staring at the wall, the more utterly random thoughts moved through his head.  He found himself comparing the blue of the wall to his fur and the blue of the sky.  He briefly wondered why the sky was blue before a memory of his adoptive mother's legendary blueberry muffins made him realize that he was starting to get hungry.  He pondered whether he'd ever see a bluebird in this cold, windy city of tall glass spikes that scraped the sky.  The blue wall made him wonder if his biological parents were blue or if it just him.  He remembered his mama's favorite flowers, the bluish-purplish Forget-Me-Nots and the story she told him about how they got their name.  And his last thought, before he realized he was still thinking, was about Kitty and how her eyes were the most beautiful and expressive blue eyes he'd ever seen.

            Zero's eyes widened and his face began to grow warm again.  Now where had _that _come from?  Where had it _all _come from?  He'd been able to stop thinking millions of times before, so why wasn't it working now?  And why the heck had he thought about Kitty and how pretty her eyes were?  Zero squirmed and his face felt warmer.  _Gah!  I did it again!  _Before Zero could think further, things took a turn for the worse.

            "Hi!"  Kitty cried in an overly cheerful voice.  "Wake up Fuzzy Elf!"

            _What the Hell?  Fuzzy Elf?  Where does she come up with this stuff?  _Zero wondered.

            "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"  She chirped.

            "I am awake."  He growled in response.

            "You don't look awake to me."  Kitty teased.

            "Well I am."  Zero growled and rolled his eyes.

            "You don't look like it."  She teased.

            "Why does that matter?"  Zero asked.

            "It doesn't.  I'm just saying that you don't look awake."  Kitty innocently explained.  Zero felt an inexplicable urge to bang his head against a solid object.

            "What does that have to do with anything?"  Zero asked slowly.

            "Nothing really."  She replied.

            "Then why did you say it?"  He asked.

            "Because I felt like it."  She answered brightly.  Zero growled quietly to himself.

            "What do you want?"  Zero snapped.

            "Would you go on a walk with me?"  She pleaded.  Zero slowly turned over until he was facing her directly.

            "No."  Zero replied coldly, adding a glare for good measure.

            "Why not?"  Kitty whined.

            "Because I don't want to."  Zero firmly stated.

            "Why?"  She whined.

            "Because."  He snapped.

            "Oh come on, _please_?"  Kitty pouted.  Zero swallowed hard, his face was heating up again.

            "No."  He growled.  _Oh please stop asking, just go away.  _He prayed in vain.  She walked up to the bunk bed and climbed the ladder until her blue eyes were level with his yellowish ones.

            "Puh-lease?"  She begged.  Zero trembled.

            "Go watch TV."  He commanded, or at least he tried to.

            "I already tried that.  There's nothing on."  Kitty complained.

            "What about your computer?"  Zero asked weakly.

            "I already tried that too.  There's nothing else for me to do on it."  Kitty whined.  Zero desperately wished he could disappear into the mattress.  "Please?"  She begged again.

            Zero turned away from her, maybe if he didn't look at her she'd get bored and go away.  She didn't.  Zero's first clue to this was the sensation of being poked in the back repeatedly.  After a few minutes the poking in the back stopped and she started poking him in the ear and neck instead.  Zero growled loudly, hoping to scare her off.  She paused for a moment before tweaking his pointed ear.

            "Pretty please?"  She whispered in his ear, Zero shivered.  "Please, for me?"  Kitty begged softly.  Zero tried to growl again, but it came out sounding something like a whimper.  "Pretty please with sugar on top?"

            "F-fine, whatever."  Zero sighed in defeat.  What was it about this girl that made him unable to say no to her?

            "Yes!  Thank you!"  She cried as she slipped off the ladder.  Zero slumped down on his bunk in a boneless heap as his tense muscles instantly relaxed.  He hadn't even realized he was tense.

            "_Ich haße Montagen._"  Zero sighed.  _I hate Mondays._


	14. What's In A Name?

***Chapter 13***

**~What's In A Name?~**

            Zero mentally growled as he shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets.  The late November weather was absolutely miserable.  According to his holo-watch, it was 1:00 PM but it looked more like 6:30 PM as high gray clouds smothered the sun's cold light.  Gusts of cold wind were made stronger by the artificial canyons formed by the numerous skyscrapers.  The air temperature was so low that some shaded puddles were beginning to ice over.  Anybody who had to be outside today was bundled up in heavy coats, gloves, scarves, and hats to protect themselves from the wind and cold.  Zero growled aloud this time.

            "Where are we going?"  Zero asked.

            "You'll see."  Kitty replied in a teasing, singsong voice.

            "Tell me."  He growled as he struggled to keep up with the fast pace she was setting.

            "No."  She chirped while weaving effortlessly through the sidewalk traffic.

            "Slow down."  Zero grumbled as he clumsily followed her lead.

            "No."  Kitty repeated.  "I want to get there before it gets too dark."  She explained.

            "Where are we going?"  Zero asked again.

            She gave him no answer.  He glared venomously at her back.  It took all his self-control to keep his tail from thrashing too violently, sometimes it could slip out of his holographic disguise if he did that.  She just made him so mad sometimes that he wanted to hit something.  At first, he'd been able to ignore her; but the more contact he had with her, the more she affected him.  Over the past month, she found every single string and button he possessed and yanked and pressed all of them.  No one back at the Facility had ever managed to do that, but they hadn't really tried either.  So long as he obeyed their every command, so long as he was a good boy, they left him alone.

            "Hurry up slowpoke!  This way!"  Kitty called out to him as she darted around a corner, Zero almost had to run to catch up.

            The street they were on now was narrower and much less crowded then the last, which was a small relief to Zero, he really hated crowds.  Kitty slowed her pace slightly and looked at the signs of various small shops that lined the far side of the street.  Zero began to wonder if this walk was really a shopping trip in disguise.  But Kitty never crossed the street to enter any of the stores, she just kept on walking.  This went on for several blocks as they walked in silence.

            "Are we there yet?"  Zero snapped in frustration.  The cold wind was getting strong enough to pierce his fur and the unpleasant sensation was making him irritable.

            "Almost."  Kitty calmly replied.  Zero glared at her, wasn't she cold at all?  She certainly didn't look like it.  Suddenly Kitty stopped nearly causing Zero to trip over her.

            "What are you stopping for?"  He growled.

            "What do you know about Chicago?"  Kitty asked.

            "Not much, why?"  He replied, irritated and confused by her sudden change of subject.

            "Just tell me what you know."  She firmly commanded.

            "Chicago is a large, modern city located near the middle of America.  It has a lot of tall buildings.  It has a lot of traffic.  A lot of people live in Chicago.  It's very cold and windy.  That's it."  Zero answered in monotone.  A devious smile slowly formed on Kitty's face.

            "Close your eyes."  Shadowcat commanded.

            "What?"  He asked warily.

            "Close your eyes."  She insisted.

            "Why should I?"  Zero asked suspiciously.

            "Close.  Your.  Eyes."  Kitty slowly repeated.

            "Fine."  Zero growled and finally did as he was told.

            "Now keep them closed and no peeking."  She warned.

            "Whatever."  Nightcrawler grumbled.  He jerked in surprise when he felt a pair of hands grab a hold of his shoulders.

            "Relax," she laughed.  "It's just me.  Now let's go, and remember, no peeking."  Kitty ordered.

            "Why do I have to keep my eyes closed?"  Zero asked nervously as he stumbled blindly ahead.

            "It's a surprise!"  Kitty chirped while she pushed him from behind.

            "What if I run into something?"  Zero wondered.

            "You won't run into anything silly."  She replied.

            "How do you know?"  Zero challenged.

            "I'll make sure you won't, now relax!  Don't you trust me?"  Kitty asked jokingly.

            "No, I don't."  Zero seriously replied.

            "Well you should."  Kitty said, sounding a bit hurt at his answer.

            "Are we almost there?"  Zero grumbled.

            "Almost, just one block more."  She softly replied.  After walking a block, though it felt like more, she stopped him.  "Okay, you can look now."  She whispered in his ear.  Zero swallowed and opened his eyes.

            "What am I looking at?"  Zero asked after several minutes of confused silence.

            "What do you think it is?"  She cheerily asked.

            "Uh, the ocean?"  He asked, feeling very stupid.

            "No, try again!"  She giggled.

            "The sea?"  Zero guessed feeling really, really stupid.

            "Nope!"  Kitty giggled.

            "Then what is it?"  Zero grumbled, no longer in the mood for her game.

            "That is Lake Michigan."  Shadowcat gleefully stated.  Zero scanned the horizon silently for a minute.

            "That can't be right, it's too big to be a lake."  Zero replied.

            "But it is a lake."  Kitty insisted.

            "Whatever."  Zero mumbled.

            "Really, it is a lake."  She insisted.  Zero remained silent, there was no way the massive body of water he was looking at was a lake.

            "Come on, I'll prove it."  Kitty declared.  She grabbed his wrist and proceeded to drag him off the cold sidewalk and onto the equally cold sand.

            "Hey, let go!"  Zero snapped as he struggled to conceal his nervousness.  How exactly was she planning to prove this to him?

            "Now," Kitty began as they stopped just short of the water's edge.  "Taste a little bit of the water.  If it's salty, then I'm wrong.  But if it isn't, then I'm right."

            Zero noticed her determined expression and realized she was being completely serious about this.  Then he looked down at the water, it didn't look all that clean to him but he supposed that was why he was only supposed to taste a little bit of it.  He freed his left wrist from her grip and crouched down to stick his finger in the water.  It was like sticking his finger in liquid nitrogen and he couldn't help jerking his hand back.  Zero felt the girl's eyes on him as he brought his damp fingertip to his mouth and hesitantly tasted it.  It didn't taste very good, but it wasn't salty.  Kitty was right, it was a lake.

            "I told you so."  She replied with a smug smile on her face.

            "Whatever."  Zero mumbled as he slowly stood back up.

            "Come on, let's go."  Kitty said and tugged on his sleeve.

            Zero obediently trudged after her as she strolled along the cold, abandoned beach.  The wind gusted stronger and colder than it had in the city and Zero began to shiver.  High above a pair of gulls wheeled silently as they rode the wind gusts in the colorless, cloudy sky.  Zero shoved his hands deep into his pockets and curled his half-numb tail around one leg in an attempt to keep a little bit warmer.  Kitty still didn't look all that cold to him.  After a good ten minutes or so of walking Zero had had enough.

            "Can we go back inside now?"  Zero asked, not caring if it sounded like he was whining.

            "Hm?  Oh sure, I guess so."  She mumbled distractedly.  She turned to lead him back the way they'd come but Zero's patience had run out.  He was sick of the cold and the wind and refused to stay outside a moment longer.  He marched up behind her and firmly grasped her shoulders.

            "Shortcut."  He whispered in her ear before she could ask him anything.  Within a fraction of a second, Zero visualized the main room of the apartment, and with a little concentration, brought them there.  In the blink of an eye, the scenery of the beach was replaced with the yellow-orangish walls of the living room.  He then pulled off his coat, hung it on a hook by the door and flopped down on the couch without a word.  The girl stared at him the whole time.

            "Thanks for the ride."  She said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.  "But next time a little more warning would be nice."

            "Fine."  He mumbled as he switched on the TV.  Before he had any chance to relax, Kitty flopped down next to him.  She scooted up against his side, pinning him between her and the arm of the couch.  She kicked off her slip-on sneakers and tucked her feet beneath her as she snuggled tightly into his side.  "_W-was-_?"

            "I'm cold."  She interrupted.  "And I'm not going to move until I warm up again."  Kitty declared.

            Zero swallowed hard, he was trapped.  Zero struggled not to squirm as the American girl cuddled against him, seeking to steal some of his body heat.  Zero swallowed again and tried to focus on the TV hoping that it would help him ignore her presence.  It almost worked too had she not messed with his holo-watch.  Out of nowhere Kitty reached over and pressed the two buttons, which activated and deactivated the watch's hologram function, which caused his disguise to blur into static before disappearing.  It seemed he'd been wrong before in thinking she wasn't cold.  She was actually colder than he was.  When she touched his wrist he found her hands were colder than the lake water.

            "Why did you do that?"  Zero asked, greatly confused.

            "You don't need it anymore, you're inside."  She mumbled into his shoulder.

            "Do you have to sit so close?"  He grumbled.

            "Yes, so get over it already."  She muttered while deftly snatching the remote from Zero's hand.  "Do you know what Thursday is?"  She asked.  Zero was really starting to hate how quickly and easily she changed the subject on him.

            "_Nein._"  He quietly replied.

            "It's Thanksgiving.  I don't suppose you know what that is, do you?"  Kitty asked quietly.

            "_Nein, _no I don't."  Zero replied. 

            "Basically, it's a holiday where people gather together with their families and eat a lot of good food."  Kitty explained.

            "Oh."  Zero mumbled, really wishing she'd shut up and go away.

            "Since my family lives pretty close to the city, I was thinking of asking Mr. Logan if we could go visit for Thanksgiving.  Would you like to come?"  Kitty asked looking at him hopefully.

            "Sure."  He grumbled.  Maybe if he agreed to everything she asked him, she'd go away sooner.

            "Great!"  She chirped flashing him a bright smile before hugging him.

            "G-get off!"  Zero yelped, weakly trying to twist away from her grasp.

            "Wait," she said suddenly, loosening her grip.  "There could be a problem.  How am I supposed to introduce you to my parents?"  Kitty asked worriedly.

            "What do you mean?"  Zero asked, squirming slightly.

            "I mean when you come over and meet my parents, what am I supposed to say your name is?"  She asked.

            "Tell them anything you want."  Zero grumbled.

            "Tell them what?  Your designation?  Or one of your nicknames?  That's not going to cut it with them  I need a real name to tell them."  Kitty insisted.

            "Make up whatever name you want."  Zero replied.

            "I don't want to.  I lie enough to them already, I'd rather give them a little bit of truth then a complete lie."  Kitty said forcefully.  Zero turned to face Kitty and saw that she was serious.

            "I don't have a name."  Zero flatly responded.  She stared blankly at him.

            "Don't be stupid, of course you have a name."  Kitty replied.

            Zero remained silent, he really didn't have a name.  Once, in another life, he'd had one, but not now.  That innocent little boy had died years ago and the name went with him.  Now he was nothing, people could call him whatever they wished because he had no real name.  He was nothing.  Nothing never needed a name so neither did he.  But Kitty didn't seem to see this, she was asking him to raise the dead with that question, and that was one thing he wouldn't do.  He turned back to face the TV.

            "I really hate lying to them, but if I told them the truth then they'd take me away.  I'd lose all my friends, my teachers, my second home.  I like what I do, but if they ever knew, then it would all be over for me.  They think that they sent me to an elite boarding school for Mutants.  They think I'm here working on some special research projects for my classes.  If we go there to visit for Thanksgiving, Mr. Logan becomes my history teacher and you would be a classmate.  But that's just another lie like my school and the class project.  I'm so sick of lying to them."  Kitty half-whispered.

            Why she'd started talking was a total mystery to Zero.  At first he didn't even know who or what she was talking about, but somewhere in the middle it became clear.  She was talking about her parents and why she lied to them.  They had no idea what their daughter was really doing.  They thought they'd just sent her to some special boarding school, not a Mutant group that worked for the American government.  She wanted to be honest with them, but if she was they'd steal her away from her friends and teachers who she seemed to value as much as her mother and father.

            Perhaps she was trying to appeal to some emotion of his to persuade him into giving her a name.  Or maybe she was just talking to herself and never really meant for him to hear it.  Whatever her purpose truly was  didn't matter to him.  He didn't care.  Her family meant nothing to him.  Her friends meant nothing to him.  He didn't know them.  They didn't know him.  Their fate did not interest him in the slightest.  Kitty's lies and her heavy conscience were none of his concern.

            "Please."  Kitty whispered.  "Please tell me."

            She hugged his left arm loosely while one of her hands gently stroked the soft blue fur of his forearm.  She was petting him, just like mama used to do when he was lonely or sad.  A warm, tingly sort of sensation slowly drifted up his arm and over his body.  Zero slowly turned and glanced at the girl who was clinging to his arm.  Normally she looked either bright and happy or dark and very angry.  But now she looked so sad and alone.  She'd sounded a little upset earlier when he'd said that he didn't trust her, and he wondered if that meant that she trusted him.  The silly little girl who used to be afraid of him now trusted him, and she didn't even know his name.

            "Kurt Wagner."  He said.  Kitty stopped petting him and looked up confused.

            "What?"  She asked.

            "My name is Kurt Wagner."  He softly replied.  Kitty smiled.

            "Kurt Wagner, that's a nice name."  She murmured as she leaned her head on his shoulder and began to pet him again.  It was a good name he supposed, too bad it wasn't really his name.  But since she wanted him to have a name, this would have to do.  That little boy that he used to be was dead and gone, he didn't need that name anymore.


	15. Meet the Parents

***Chapter 14***

**~Meet the Parents~**

            Zero sat limply in the backseat of Mr. Logan's black SUV.  Kitty had gotten her wish, and right now they were on the way to her parents' house.  He sat leaning back into his seat with his head lightly resting on the window gazing sightlessly out at the traffic around them.  Kitty sat up front with Mr. Logan and chatted away with him about some sport or something.  The radio was on but at a low volume so it was more like the background music in a decent sit-down restaurant.  Sometimes a song would come on that Kitty liked so she'd turn it up and sing along with it.  But beyond that the drive was more or less the same.

            So far Zero had spent the entire drive mentally cursing himself.  Despite all his efforts, he still could not blank his mind of all thought.  He couldn't stare out into space and see nothing.  He couldn't close his senses to the outside world and be oblivious to it.  When he tried to stare at a wall random thoughts would buzz behind his eyes.  When he tried to space out while watching TV, he ended up actually watching what was on.  No matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking, he couldn't space out.  It frustrated him to no end.  And it was all her fault.

            Katharine 'Kitty' Pryde was the root of his problem.  Before he encountered her everything had been just fine.  He'd been able to get through his miserable existence by sinking into a forgetful numbing haze.  But now this teenage American girl sneaks into the picture and slowly but surely destroys his mental refuge.  Whether or not this was her intent didn't matter to him, it was still her fault.  If only he'd never met the girl things would be much more simple.  He'd be able to complete his mission without worry or complication.  He wouldn't be distracted by her silly words or foolish actions so he could complete his work in peace.  Without her he wouldn't have remembered how to feel.

            For years he thought he was no longer capable of true emotion.  He'd been able to fake it when necessary but it wasn't the same, it wasn't real.  But now he found that he was beginning to feel again.  When Kitty didn't appear on time at the club, he worried.  When she teased him he felt irritated, frustrated, even angry.  During Mr. Logan's mini-interrogation after their curfew violation, he'd felt a faint spark of fear at the memories that rose up in the back of his mind.  When Kitty touched or was too close to him, he got nervous, maybe even a little embarrassed.  When he watched TV sometimes he discovered he was bored.  There were probably a thousand other things he'd felt since he'd come to America, but he couldn't remember what half of them were.  After being numb for so long his memories of different feelings had drifted beyond his reach.

            "Are you still alive back there?"  Kitty asked him, making him start in surprise.

            "Of course I am."  He muttered.

            "Well are you going to get out and walk around or what?"  She asked.  Zero slowly looked around; they had stopped in a gas station.  

            "_Nein._"  He mumbled, he didn't feel like moving.

            "Okay."  Kitty replied before walking off to the gas station store.  Zero noticed Mr. Logan off to the side of the SUV refilling the gas tank.  He idlely watched the cars zip by as he waited for Kitty to get back.  He really hoped they left soon, the nasty reek of gasoline was starting to give him a headache.  When Kitty returned, Mr. Logan paid for the gas and they got ready to get back on the road.

            "Sit in the back Half-Pint."  Mr. Logan gruffly commanded.

            "Why?"  She asked.

            "Because you're supposed to sit with your 'friend'."  He growled back.  Kitty looked a bit confused for a second.

            "Friend?  Oh right, I got it!"  She cheerfully replied before hopping into the backseat and sitting right next to him.  "Hi!"  She chirped with a smile.  Zero pressed himself into the door as he tried to get as far away from her as possible.  Mr. Logan raised an eyebrow upon seeing this in the rearview mirror.

            "Is there a problem back there?"  Mr. Logan asked as he pulled out of the gas station.

            "No, no problem."  Kitty replied firmly with a smile.

            "I wasn't asking you."  Mr. Logan gruffly replied.

            "I'm fine."  Zero responded after a moment.  He forced himself to relax, if he messed things up for Kitty he was a doomed man.

            "Good."  The gruff man grumbled and turned his full attention to the road.  Zero turned to stare out the window and tried to ignore Kitty, but she wouldn't let him.

            "Hiya Kurt!  What's up?"  Kitty asked him cheerfully, he flinched slightly.

            "The sky."  He muttered nervously.  She laughed a little.

            "That's not what I meant silly!"  She giggled.  "I asked 'how are you'?"

            "Fine."  He muttered.

            "Do you ever say anything besides 'fine' when people ask you how you're doing?"  Kitty asked curiously.

            "No."  He replied.

            "Why?  You can't be fine all the time."  She stated.

            "It doesn't really matter," Zero said softly.  "Nobody really cares anyway."  For a long time there was silence and he began to hope she would leave him alone and stay quiet for the rest of the drive.

            "Why do you think that nobody cares about you?"  Kitty quietly asked.

            "Because nobody does."  He sighed in irritation.

            "How do you know that?"  She challenged.

            "I just know."  He snapped.  _Why can't she just leave me alone?_

"Well I think you're wrong about that."  Kitty replied.

            "Really?"  Zero muttered sarcastically.

            "Yes, really."  She answered.  Zero kept quiet, he didn't feel like arguing with her, she'd never admit that she was wrong.

            As he gazed out the window he could see the city had been replaced by strip malls, supermarkets, and streets lined with houses, the suburbs.  _We must be getting close now, dank sei Gott.  _The sun was touching the horizon when Mr. Logan turned into a nice subdivision.  The street was long and winding, surrounded by well-kept lawns and gardens.  The houses here were either old and elegant or new and large, the people who lived here definitely had some money.  Near the very end of the street they turned into the driveway of an older looking house that was surrounded by rosebushes.

            Mr. Logan had barely put the SUV into park when she slipped through her seatbelt and the door.  Zero shook his head as he watched her scamper across the lawn and practically dive through the house's door.  Zero sighed before wearily pulling himself up out of his seat and out of the black vehicle.  He stretched his arms out over his head and yawned, sitting in a car for over three hours could be quite tiring.  After loosening up his stiff joints a bit, he picked up his duffle bag and Kitty's abandoned backpack, and followed Mr. Logan.  When they reached the door the older Mutant knocked while Zero studied the wooden planks of the front porch.  It took a little over five minutes but the door was finally opened by a distracted looking Mr. Pryde.

            "Come in."  Mr. Pryde said motioning them to follow him in.  Zero followed the two older men upstairs to the guest room.  The room turned out to be very small and it only had one bed, a rolled up sleeping bag and spare pillow sat in the corner.  Mr. Logan dumped his own beat up backpack on the bed, effectively claiming it as his own.  Zero sighed and dropped his duffle bag next to the sleeping bag, it looked like he was going to sleep on the floor for the next two nights.  Mr. Logan headed downstairs to meet Kitty's parents and left Zero behind.  Zero began to explore the upper level of the house.  He found Kitty's parents' room, the study, and the bathroom before he found what he was looking for, Kitty's room.  He tossed her backpack on her bed, closed her door behind him, and trudged downstairs to meet her parents.

            He found everyone gathered in the living room.  Mr. Logan sat in an armchair while Kitty sat between her mother and father on the couch.  Mr. Pryde looked to be in his middle forties.  His dark brown hair was turning silver-gray over his temples and he wore bifocal glasses.  Mrs. Pryde appeared to be about the same age as her husband.  Her wavy golden-brown hair was threaded with little streaks of gray and pulled back into a loose ponytail.  Kitty sat slightly closer to her mother looking happier than she'd been all week while they chatted about different school subjects and grades.  All together they formed the picture of the perfect family.  Zero sagged weakly against the doorframe as he watched them talk with each other.  He'd never felt so alone in all his life.

***

            Kitty smiled, so far everything was going great!  It seemed like her earlier fears were totally unfounded, her parents were getting along great.  They'd arrived on time, even a little bit early.  Her parents had both been overjoyed to see her.  And now they were both suitably impressed by Logan.  Everything was going perfectly, this would be the best Thanksgiving ever.  But for some funny reason she had the nagging feeling that she'd forgotten something important.  Finally the nagging feeling got the best of her and she excused herself to get a glass of water.  She needed to get someplace quiet so she could think better.

            As she exited the living room and turned towards the kitchen she almost screamed.  Now she knew what she'd forgotten.  There, leaning up against the wall, was Kurt and he looked awful.  With barely a pause in her step she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him with her into the kitchen.  Once they were in the same confines of the kitchen she shoved him into the nearest chair.  Kitty couldn't help but think that he'd looked healthier when she'd first seen him in the airport.  He was so pale he looked gray, or at least his hologram did, and his eyes were glazed over.  Kitty frowned, could he be getting sick?  She felt his forehead to see if he had a fever.  As far as she could tell his temperature was normal, so what was wrong with him?

            "Hey, you okay?"  Kitty nervously asked.  Things had been going so well, and now this.  She frowned again, it was like he hadn't heard her at all.  "Kurt?"  She tried again.  His eyes suddenly cleared and he gazed forlornly up at her.  "Are you okay?"  Kitty asked again.

            "I-I don't know."  He muttered looking away.

            "What just happened with you?  You were all out of it."  She asked.  Kurt remained silent and seemed to curl into himself a little.  "Never mind, let's just get you introduced to my parents."  Kitty sighed.  She tugged on his sleeve and he obediently rose and followed her back to the living room.  When they entered the room all conversation abruptly ceased.

            "Who is that?"  Mrs. Pryde asked carefully.

            "This is Kurt Wagner, he's my partner for the projects I'm working on."  Kitty brightly explained.

            "You never told us that you had a partner."  Mrs. Pryde suspiciously.

            "My fault, he's so quiet I forget that he's around most of the time."  Kitty sheepishly replied.

            "Really?"  Mr. Pryde asked, raising an eyebrow.

            "Yes Dad, I really did forget about him when I wrote you before."  Kitty sighed.

            "Alright then.  It's nice to meet you Kurt."  Mr. Pryde responded as he stood and stretched out his hand to the young German.  Kurt stared at it for a second before he slowly reached out to shake the offered hand.  Kitty winced as she saw the disgust creep across her father's face as he felt Kurt's fur.  Kurt must've seen it too because he seemed to wilt before her eyes.  "So, where were we?"  Mr. Pryde asked Logan, totally ignoring the both of them.  Kitty sighed.

            "We're going to outside for  a while Mom."  Kitty muttered to her mother as she dragged Kurt towards the door.

            "Okay sweetie, come in before dark."  Mrs. Pryde distractedly replied.

            Kitty pulled Kurt out of the house as quickly as she could, pausing only to put on her jacket back on.  Once she got outside she let go of Kurt and flopped down on the wooden bench swing that hung form the porch's ceiling.  Kurt remained standing where she'd let go of his wrist looking a bit lost.  Kitty began to slowly move the swing back and forth and stared down at the wood planks beneath her feet.  So much for things turning out perfect.  She'd screwed up big time.  She'd forgotten to warn them about his fur.  Despite the fact that she, their own daughter, was a Mutant, neither of her parents were comfortable around Mutants.  Logan was getting along well with them because he still looked and felt completely human, Kurt didn't and that was the problem.  Now that they knew things were likely to get unpleasant for them, just what Kitty had been hoping to avoid.

            "I'm sorry if Dad upset you, that's just the way he is."  Kitty apologized quietly.

            "I'm not upset."  Kurt replied.

            "Liar."  She muttered accusingly.  She'd seen his reaction, there was no denying that her father's actions had hurt him.  

            "I'm not upset!"  He insisted sounding very upset.

            "Whatever."  She sighed.  "It's my fault anyway, I should've at least mentioned you to them sooner than I did."  Kurt stayed silent.

            Kitty glanced up from the floorboards to find Kurt leaning on the porch railing gazing out at the neighborhood.  He looked so lonely, but if she said something about it he'd deny it.  That's how he always was, if she suggested that he felt anything, he'd claim he felt nothing.  He obviously had emotion, so why did he continue to deny it?  Perhaps it had something to do with how he was treated early on by that German general.  Kitty looked away from him and curled up on the bench swing.  What on earth could that man have done to him to make him try to become emotionless?  On second thought, she didn't want to know.

            "Kitty?"  Kurt asked.  Kitty squeaked, _when did he sneak over here?  _

            "What?"  She asked.  Kurt shifted from one foot to the other revealing his nervousness.

            "Um, c-could I sit with you?"  He stammered weakly.

            "Uh, sure."  Kitty replied, shifting her position slightly so had more room to sit.  Kurt hesitated for a moment before slowly lowering himself down on the swing.  Kitty was about to dive back into her thoughts when Kurt asked another question.

            "Kitty, why do you think I'm wrong?"  He asked quietly.

            "Wrong about what?"  Kitty inquired.

            "About somebody caring about me."  He said in a whisper.

            "Oh that, well somebody somewhere has to care."  Kitty replied.

            "Like who?"  Kurt wondered.

            "You have parents out there somewhere, don't you?"  She asked.

            "Yes."  He replied so softly that she almost didn't hear him.

            "I bet they still care."  Kitty said quietly.

            "I'll never see them again so they don't count."  Kurt muttered.  Kitty was stunned into silence for a while.  That was a terrible thing to say but the worst part was he was probably right.  The chilly late November air suddenly felt much, much colder.  She shivered and scooted right up to Kurt's side.  She buried her slightly numbed fingers in her pockets and rested her head on his shoulder.  Kurt flinched a little at her touch, but strangely enough he offered no protest.

            "There's somebody out there who cares."  Kitty whispered.  _Who knows, it might even turn out to be me..._


	16. Thanksgiving

***Chapter 15***

**~Thanksgiving~**

            Kurt slumped tiredly down on the bench swing.  He'd probably gotten only three or four hours of sleep last night and he felt _so _sleepy.  He was so tired he was thinking of himself as that name he'd given Kitty instead of Zero or DX-0.  With a weary sigh, he leaned back in his seat a rubbed at his eyes, if only he'd been able to fall asleep last night.  Why hadn't he been able to sleep?  It wasn't because he felt nervous or excited; he was sure that wasn't it.  And Mr. Logan didn't snore so that didn't keep him up.  What had kept him up were his thoughts and memories.  His mind simply refused to shut off when it was supposed to, which left him wide-awake and staring at the ceiling most of the night.  When he finally did fall asleep, it seemed like only a minute had passed before Mr. Logan poked him awake with his foot.

            He muffled a yawn as he glanced through the window at the activity going on inside.  Mrs. Pryde was rushing around the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner while Kitty followed her around like a helpful shadow.  Mr. Pryde was in charge of the turkey and talked with Mr. Logan as the large bird cooked.  There was no place for him in there.  He would only get in Mrs. Pryde and Kitty's way if he tried to help them, and Mr. Pryde wouldn't even acknowledge that he existed let along talk to him.  So that left him with no other option but to stay out of everyone else's way.  Kurt looked away from the window as the feeling of loneliness once again overwhelmed him.  He had no place here, he didn't belong.  He swallowed hard and his hands clutched his tail tightly so they wouldn't shake.

            A sudden loud crash from inside made him jump and nearly fall off the swing.  He heard some muffled shouts and curses coming from the kitchen.  Before he could make up his mind whether he should go in or not to see what had happened, the chaos came out to him.  Without warning Kitty dove through the window and wall and somehow ended up in his lap.  She was curled up into a ball with her arms around his neck and her face buried in his chest.  Kurt looked down at her and blinked stupidly, how did this happen?  Before he could gather his thoughts enough to ask Kitty what the heck was going on Mr. Pryde burst out of the house with his wife following close behind.

            "How dare you run away!"  Mr. Pryde roared.

            "Leave her alone!  It wasn't her fault!"  Mrs. Pryde cried.

            "Of course it was!  She was the one who dropped it!"  Mr. Pryde snarled whirling around to face his wife.

            "She only dropped that plate because you hit her in the arm with those hot tongs!"  Mrs. Pryde snapped.

            "Oh, so it's my fault now!"  Mr. Pryde shouted.

            "I never said it was!"  Mrs. Pryde shouted back.

            "Then whose fault is it?"  Mr. Pryde snarled.

            "Nobody's, it was an accident!"  Mrs. Pryde claimed.

            "Right, an accident."  Mr. Pryde spat sarcastically.

            "It was!"  Mrs. Pryde protested.

            "Just like what happened to my favorite shirt was an accident!"  Mr. Pryde snarled furiously.

            "That wasn't a shirt anymore, it was barely even a rag!"  Mrs. Pryde argued.

            The two adults continued on arguing with each other like that oblivious to their audience.  Kurt sat stunned, what was going on here?  Yesterday they'd been the ideal little family, now they looked more like the ideal _dysfunctional _family.  Before they'd been loving and welcoming to their daughter and her 'teacher', but now they were at each other's throats.

            Kurt was jerked free from his temporary paralysis by the girl who was huddled in his lap.  At first, he thought she was only shivering from the cold because she had no jacket on.  But then he heard a sound beneath the shouting match going on in front of him.  Kitty wasn't shivering, she was crying.  Kurt was absolutely horrified.  How could her parents just stand there and fight over nothing while their daughter was crying?  As he watched the two elder Prydes fight, Kurt made a decision.  He wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl, took a quick around, and 'ported her away with him to the guest room.

            Once they arrived in the room, Kitty cried harder.  She clung to him tighter as if she was afraid he might disappear and leave her.  Kurt swallowed hard, while her close proximity was making him really uncomfortable, he couldn't leave her alone like this.  Nervously he hugged her to his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head.  His tail stealthily slipped from its hiding place inside his hologram and coiled loosely around Kitty's waist.  Despite all his efforts, her crying did not cease.  But as the minutes passed, her tears began to slow and her energy was failing.  Her wracking sobs slowly faded into faint whimpers and sniffles.  After a while, she seemed calm enough for him to let go, but he didn't feel like it just yet.

            "I wish I knew why they fight like that.  If I knew why then I could fix it."  Kitty whispered hoarsely.

            "How often does this happen?"  Kurt quietly asked.

            "Sometimes they fight all day, other times they get along wonderfully for weeks, even months at a time."  She mumbled.  "I never know how long the good times will last."

            "Did they always fight this way?"  Kurt wondered.

            "Always," she whispered.  "But lately it's gotten worse, ever since I..."  Kitty trailed off into silence.

            "Ever since you what?"  Kurt asked after a moment.

            "Ever since I found out that I was a Mutant."  She answered finally.  Kurt tightened his tail's grip and the triangular tip rubbed gentle circles on her side.

            "It's not your fault that they fight."  Kurt tried to assure her.

            "Yes it is!"  Kitty whimpered.

            "But you said they fought before they knew."  Kurt countered.

            "True, but if I hadn't been born they would've been divorced a long time ago.  They only stick together because they think it's best for me."  She muttered miserably.

            "That's terrible!"  He gasped.

            "I know, but that's the way things are for me."  She sighed.  Before Kurt could speak anymore, she began to peel his arms and tail away from her to stand.  "Thank you."  She whispered, then kissed his cheek and walked out of the room.

            Kurt sat perfectly still for a while.  His face tingled where she'd kissed him and he felt strangely warm.  Then he remembered he still had his jacket on which explained why he felt warm but not why his cheek was all tingly.  Kurt slowly pulled off his now partly damp coat and flopped back on his sleeping bag.  Despite his unhappiness at her family's difficulties and his anger at her parents' behavior, he found that he felt kind of glad that he was here.  He hoped that he'd been able to help Kitty feel better, it hurt to see her so sad.  A sudden yawn reminded him of how tired he still was so he decided to take a quick nap before dinner.  With another yawn and a stretch, he curled up on his side and closed his eyes.  A minute later, he was asleep.

***

            Kitty collapsed on her fluffy pink bed with a sigh.  By some miracle from above, Thanksgiving dinner had gone off without a problem.  By the time she'd finished cleaning herself up in the bathroom her parents had stopped fighting and were back working in the kitchen.  Logan had apparently stayed there the entire time to keep things from burning and to clean up the broken plate.  Kitty could tell from the looks he gave her parents that whatever respect he'd had for them was now gone.  From then on Kitty decided to stay out of the kitchen until her parents were finished with it.

            When dinner was finally ready and waiting on the dinning room table Kitty realized that Kurt was nowhere in sight.  She quickly searched every room until she discovered his location.  He was curled up on a green nylon sleeping bag fast asleep.  He looked so cute sleeping like that that it had taken a bit of effort not to just leave him to sleep in peace.  At first, he didn't want to get up until she reminded hum that it was dinnertime.  He then followed her downstairs stumbling through a sleepy fog.  Kitty smiled as she remembered how quickly he woke up upon seeing the small feast laid out on the table.

            Dinner went very well she thought.  After her father had said a quick blessing, the food was passed around and Thanksgiving dinner had commenced.  It had been the quietest Thanksgiving dinner ever and not just because there hadn't been any extended family present.  Her parents refused to say a word to each other though they occasionally would say something to her or Logan.  Neither of them spoke to Kurt though, which was a bit upsetting.  But Kurt didn't seem to mind it so she tried not to let it bother her.  All the food had tasted great and she'd nearly given herself a stomachache because she ate so much.  By the time everyone finished eating it was late, so after helping her mother clean up, she'd headed up here.

            Now she was all nice and comfy in her heart-covered flannel pajamas laying on her warm comfy bed.  Kitty melted through her covers and pulled a worn stuffed dragon that she'd named Lockheed out from under her pillow.  With a small smile she turned out her bedside lamp and snuggled down to sleep.  Sometime later she found herself wide-awake and she didn't have a clue have a clue as to why.  Her alarm clock said it was past mid-night and her room was dark and silent.  She knew she'd been asleep, so why was she suddenly awake in the middle of the night?  She held her breath and strained her ears trying to hear any sound that might've been what woke her up.

            Kitty was about to give up  and go back to sleep when she heard something.  It was a faint, muffled creaking sound that one part of the hallway floor made when somebody stepped on it.  She sat up in bed and listened hard again to see if she heard it once more.  About five minutes later she heard it again.  Who the heck was walking the halls at this time of night?  Her curiosity quickly got the best of her and with a sigh she hopped out of her bed and phased her way out into the hall.  A few minutes later the floor creaked again and a shadowy figure with glowing eyes rounded the corner.  Kitty frowned.

            "Kurt, why aren't you sleeping?"  She asked.  Kurt yelped in surprise and tripped over himself at the sound of her voice.

            "Um, I can't sleep."  He sheepishly admitted after he recovered from his shock.

            "Why, is Mr. Logan snoring?"  Kitty asked.

            "No, he doesn't snore.  I just can't sleep."  Kurt replied.

            "Why?"  She wondered.

            "I don't know."  He grumbled.  Kitty thought for a moment before she got an idea.

            "Get the sleeping bag and pillow and come with me."  She ordered.  Kurt did as he was told and grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow from the guest room.  Kitty led him into her bedroom, but he paused in the doorway.

            "I can't go in there."  He whispered.

            "Why not?"  She asked.

            "Because it's your room."  He hissed.

            "So is the room back in Chicago and you sleep in there too."  She retorted.  Kurt fell silent before he nervously entered her room and set himself up on the far side of the room.  She watched from the edge of her bed as his slipped inside the green sleeping bag and tried to get comfortable.

            "This isn't working."  He grumbled after about ten minutes.

            "You need to relax."  Kitty suggested as she slid off her bed and moved to sit on the floor next to him.

            "I am relaxed."  He growled.

            "No you're not."  She sighed.

            "I am too."  He snapped.  Kitty grinned, he was so immature.

            "No you're not."  She repeated softly.  Kurt looked like he was about to protect again so she kept him quiet by touching a finger to his lips.  "You're not relaxed."  Kitty declared.

            "Alright, I'm not."  He finally sighed after she removed her finger.

            "Good, now that we agree, relax and go to sleep."  Kitty commanded. 

            "I'm not sure how."  Kurt muttered.

            "Wonderful."  Kitty sighed sarcastically rolling her eyes.

            How can you forget how to relax?  She rested her chin in the palm of her left hand and fiddled with Kurt's elf ear with her right as she tried to think of a solution.  _Let's see, what do I do to relax?  I play on the computer, but he doesn't seem to be into that.  Reading him a book might work, but then I'd have to turn on a light.  I could just talk to him, but he could complain about it or something...  Hey, what's that?  _Kitty snapped herself out of her thoughts as a strange sound invaded her ears.  Her eyes widened, the sound was coming from Kurt, he was purring like a cat.  _How much weirder can he get?_

His eyes were closed and it looked like he'd fallen asleep.  Kitty started to pull back her right hand, which had been rubbing his pointed ear, when the purring stopped.  Kurt leaned into her hand started to whimper as if begging her to continue.  He still looked asleep.  _Never mind, I spoke too soon..._  Kitty mentally sighed as she resumed rubbing his fuzzy ear.  Kurt settled back down instantly and began to purr again.  Kitty sighed out loud, if he kept this up all night she would never forgive him.  Sometime after one in the morning, the purrs grew quieter until they stopped completely.  _Now _he was asleep.  With a tired yawn Kitty stumbled back to bed and burrowed under her covers.  In less than a minute she was asleep too.


	17. Who Is That Guy?

***Chapter 16***

**~Who Is That Guy?~**

            Kurt sighed and watched his breath condense into a frozen mist before his eyes.  It was freezing outside and they still had to walk to the club.  Mr. Logan refused to drive them until there was snow on the ground.  Unfortunately, it had yet to snow, so they were stuck walking.  The wind gusted and he shivered as it pierced his fur.  He glanced to his right and shivered again, how could she stand to wear that?  Kitty was wearing tight, high-heeled boots that went up to her knees; a tight, black, fake leather, short skirt; and a spaghetti strap tank top under a thin spring coat.  How she wasn't suffering from a severe case of hypothermia was a mystery to him.

            "Aren't you cold?"  Kurt muttered.

            "No, I'm freezing."  Kitty snapped.

            "Then why don't you wear warmer clothes?"  He asked.

            "Because then I'll get overheated later."  She replied.

            Kurt fell silent, he supposed that made sense, but why didn't she just wear a warmer coat?  Before he could ask, the neon blue sign of the Blue Lotus came into view.  Kitty picked up the pace, eager to get out of the cold now that their goal was in sight.  Kurt was forced to jog to keep up with her.  They were less than a block away when he remembered something.  He caught her by the arm and forced her to a stop.  She glared venomously back at him.

            "Who was that guy?"  Kurt asked.

            "What guy?"  Kitty asked, looking around confused.

            "That guy from last weekend."  He clarified.

            "You mean Lance?"  She asked.

            "_Ja._"  Kurt muttered.

            "Well what about him?"  Kitty inquired.

            "What were you doing with him?"  Kurt quietly asked.

            "Trying to get information out of him."  She answered.

            "It didn't look like it to me."  He grumbled.

            "Well I was.  He works for the club and claims to be involved in other secret activities so he's the best lead that I've found.  I don't suppose you have any better sources of information."  Kitty snapped back.  Kurt kept his mouth shut, she had him beat.  "Can we go in now?"  She growled.  Kurt nodded and tamely followed her into his personal Hell.

            Nothing had changed over the week, everything was exactly the same.  The music was just as loud and teeth rattling as ever.  The crowds were just as crazy, drunk, and/or stoned as before.  And he still desperately wished that he was anywhere _but _here.  He turned to find that Kitty had already left him.  She hadn't even repeated her empty promise to check in with him this time.  With a sad sigh, Kurt crept along the wall towards his usual seat.  Tonight he feared would be long and lonely.

***

            Kitty was in heaven!  Her grounding was over, she was far away from her parents, and she was having some serious fun.  The first thing she did upon entering her personal haven was seek out her friend Amanda.  It took her longer than usual to find her because she'd been unable to use the phone to set up a meeting place like they usually did.  But they found each other anyway so it was all good.  They immediately began making their rounds of the club, saying hi to whoever they knew.  When that little ritual was completed, they found one of the quieter corners of the Blue Lotus to catch up on gossip and such.

            "So how did you take being grounded?"  Amanda asked curiously.

            "Okay I guess.  For the most part it was pretty boring, but as you can see I survived it."  Kitty replied.

            "So you're not grounded anymore, right?"  Amanda cautiously asked, Kitty nodded and smiled.  "That's great!  Now we can do stuff again!"  Amanda cheered.

            "That's right!"  Kitty exclaimed.  "So did I miss anything?"  She asked.

            "No, nothing important.  Unless you consider Trisha and Jamal breaking up again something important."  Amanda replied.  Kitty wrinkled her nose in disgust.  Those two broke up at least once every week only to get back together the very next day.

            "So the answer is no, I didn't miss anything."  Kitty snorted.  Amanda laughed a little before suddenly turning serious.

            "Who was that guy last Sunday?"  Amanda asked.

            "What guy?"  Kitty innocently asked.

            "You know perfectly well who I am talking about, now spill it.  Who was he?"  Amanda demanded.

            "What makes you think that I know this guy?"  Kitty countered.

            "The look on your face when I described him to you said it all.  You know this guy now tell me."  Amanda firmly replied.  Kitty could tell that there was no way out of this one, so she began to make stuff up.

            "He's this weird German guy that my Uncle came across somewhere.  I guess my Uncle knows his parents from someplace and so he lets this guy stay in our apartment with us.  He really has nothing to do so he follows me here and sits in a corner until it's time to leave.  Sunday I was way late so I guess he came looking for me, got fed up, and left."  Kitty answered.

            "Does this guy have a name?"  Amanda wondered.

            "Kurt Wagner."  Kitty replied being careful to pronounce it the proper German way.

            "So why didn't you tell me about him before?"  Amanda asked curiously.

            "Because I don't really like him, he's weird."  Kitty muttered.

            "Besides looking really mad, he didn't look all that bad to me."  Amanda replied.

            "What?  Don't tell me you think he's cute."  Kitty snorted.

            "He's not that bad looking."  Amanda protested.

            "There's a lot of guys out there that aren't bad looking."  Kitty countered.

            "I know," Amanda sighed.  "But could you point out where he sits?"  She cheerfully asked.  Kitty blinked, _this could get really, really bad._

"Um, I don't know where it is from here."  Kitty lied.

            "Aw, that's too bad.  So is there anything else I should know about this guy aside from the fact that he's weird?"  Amanda inquired.

            "He doesn't like going outside, he doesn't like anybody touching him, he doesn't like talking to people, he's afraid of girls, he's a pain in the butt to wake up in the morning, he's immature, and he's just plain weird in general."  Kitty explained.

            "Well, that's not too bad, he could be worse."  Amanda said slowly.

            "If he was any worse, my Uncle Logan would've kicked him out after the first week."  Kitty grumbled.

            "So why is he here in America?"  Amanda asked curiously.

            "I don't know and I don't really care."  Kitty muttered, she really wished they could talk about something else right now.

            "Oh," Amanda sighed in disappointment.  "Hey, have you ever seen him naked?"  Amanda asked eagerly.

            "What?"  Kitty screeched.  "No I have never seen him naked and I don't intend to either!"  She squealed.

            "You don't want to see me naked?"  A male voice asked, causing both Kitty and Amanda to squeak in surprise.

            "Oh, Lance, it's just you."  Kitty sighed in relief upon seeing the bouncer.

            "Don't sneak up and scare us like that!"  Amanda snapped.

            "Whatever," Lance snorted, seating himself between them.  "What's all this about not wanting to see me naked?"  He demanded.

            "We weren't talking about you Lance so relax."  Kitty assured him.

            "Then who _were _you talking about?"  Lance asked.

            "This German guy that lives in Kitty's apartment."  Amanda replied.

            "What German guy?"  He demanded.  "I never heard anything about any German guy."

            "That's because I didn't tell anyone about him."  Kitty replied.

            "Why?"  Lance asked.

            "Because I don't really like him and I don't want to be associated with him."  Kitty explained.  Lance studied her hard for a moment before shaking his head.

            "Well, I've had enough of this foreign guy, why don't we get some drinks?"  Lance casually suggested.

            "Sure."  Both girls eagerly agreed.

            The teenage trio rose as one and headed to the counter to purchase their favorite beverages.  Lance snagged a Mountain Dew, Amanda bought a Dr. Pepper, and Kitty picked up a 7up.  They drifted from one spot to another with the flow of the crowd as they chatted.  Amanda kept most of the conversations going while Kitty and Lance quickly grew more interested in each other.  The pair danced most of the night away, losing Amanda after an hour or two.  When the techno beat left them both exhausted, they found their special secluded corner and cuddled.  Kitty was sure that she was starting to get somewhere with him when she happened to check her watch.

            "Oh damn."  Kitty cursed with feeling.

            "What's the matter Pretty-Kitty?"  Lance whispered in a low voice that made her shiver.

            "I have to go home."  She mumbled.

            "No you don't."  Lance decided, tightening his grip on her.

            "Yes I do.  I don't want to get grounded again."  Kitty sighed as she very reluctantly climbed out of Lance's lap.

            "Oh come on, you just got here."  He complained.

            "I know, but I'll be back again tomorrow night."  She promised as she fastened her coat.  "See you then!"  She chirped cheerfully, gave him a good-bye kiss on the cheek, and melted into the crowd.  On her way to pick Kurt, she ran into Amanda and added a quick apology for forgetting her into her good-bye.  Then Kitty finally made it to Kurt's usual spot and ran into a problem.  Kurt wasn't there.

***

            Kurt huddled miserably in a narrow alley next to the Blue Lotus.  He was supposedly the best agent _Deutschgewehr X _had.  They'd spent a great deal of time and money to train him.  His original purpose had been to steal things from high security facilities and assassinate highly placed individuals.  He was DX-0, Germany's super agent, trained to be swift, silent, and fearless.  He _wasn't _supposed to run out of a relatively tame American nightclub suffering from an itsy bitsy psychosomatic panic attack.

            He curled up tighter as another wave of irrational fear crashed down over him.  His heart began to race inside his constricted chest.  He felt like he couldn't breathe, his lungs didn't seem to be working right.  Every sound that he could not identify feed the fear, which threatened to smother him.  The deep shifting shadows morphed into fantastical monsters that hovered menacingly around him.  Icy gusts of wind moaned through the dark, filthy alley sending frozen spikes through his fur, which made him tremble even more.  No matter what he did or thought, the terror refused to subside.  A weak, pathetic whimper slipped out of his dry throat, sounding horribly loud in the nearly silent alley.

            A faint echoy sound crept into his ears and made him shiver harder.  With great effort, he managed to calm his ragged breathing so he could better hear the new threatening sound.  A harsh clopping bounced off the massive building walls making it difficult to determine the sound's origin.  His tail tightened its death grip on his leg until he thought it had cut off the circulation.  His breath stuck in his throat as he recognized the sound as being footsteps, and they were getting closer.  A blackish fog seemed to settle in his mind as panic turned his muscles to ice.  As the footsteps grew louder and closer, he closed his eyes tight and waited.

            The sound of footsteps abruptly stopped.  Kurt held his breath.  He felt a specific sort of fear settle deep inside him, the fear that prey has of a predator.  He knew this kind of fear well.  He'd been hunted once a long time ago.  That day had been the last day that he'd been free.  Now he felt like he was being hunted again.  But he'd already lost his freedom, would he lose his life this time?  _I could die.  _Kurt opened his eyes and gazed sightlessly at the grimy brick wall in front of him.  Not too long ago he'd longed for the release of death.  Did he still want it now?

            Kurt nervously peered out at the rectangular opening where the alley merged with the street.  A long, thin, distorted shadow lay across the grayish sidewalk.  Someone was definitely out there, but were they waiting for him?  He silently staggered to his feet and slowly slunk along the wall towards the street.  He paused at the edge of the alley to gather his nerve before cautiously peeking around the corner.  He didn't find any mysterious threatening man like he had feared and expected.  Instead, he saw a young pretty girl with brown hair wearing short, tight clothes.  The breath that was frozen deep in his lungs came out in a rush and his legs began to wobble, threatening to collapse.  It was Kitty.

            Kurt stumbled out of the shadowy alley and headed for the familiar American girl.  The instant he touched his hand to her shoulder his fear melted away.  He felt the tension drain out of his body.  The smothering fog that clouded his mind cleared away.  Even though he was cold, he no longer trembled.  The dark shadowy fears of his mind vanished like a faint wisp of smoke.  Just one little touch seemed like a magical cure for his sudden attack of anxiety.  All this happened in less than a second.  In the next second Kitty reacted.

            "Wah!"  Kitty shrieked, spun around, and slapped him across the face.  "Kurt, you jerk, don't scare me like that!"  She hissed furiously.

            Kurt mutely raised a trembling hand to his face.  His cheek stung where she'd hit him.  A sense of guilt washed over him then.  He'd frightened her by grabbing her that way.  And he'd probably upset her by leaving the club without telling her.  Then a horrible sensation of shame settled deep in his gut.  He'd left his post, he'd run away.  He had put the whole mission in danger because he'd run away, because he'd been afraid.  He could've missed some valuable piece of information because of what he'd done.  Kitty could've gotten in trouble and he wouldn't have known about it, wouldn't have been able to help her.  He was pathetic.

            "Come on, let's go."  Kitty muttered darkly.  She turned around and stalked off.  Kurt mutely slunk after her.  He wished he had died.


	18. Issues

**Chapter 17**

**Issues**

Kitty was in her element. The high-speed cable modem was humming as the teenager surfed the World Wide Web in search of entertainment. Amanda was busy today so there was no chance to hit the malls, hang out, or catch a movie. If she'd been paired with any other adult she might've considered going out with Lance, but with Logan around it wasn't worth the risk. It was better to wait to see Lance at the club than to have him dismembered. So without the possibility of going out and doing something she then had considered watching television. But about two seconds or so later, she nixed that idea. It was mid-way between morning and noon on a Monday, there would be _nothing _on. The only option left had been her souped up laptop and the internet.

A few keystrokes later, however, Kitty was forced to admit it. She was still bored. She had done everything that she could think of and her boredom remained. First, she visited her E-mail accounts and found nothing but junk. Then, she tried messing with her instant messenger, but no one was on. She visited all of her favorite websites and found only a few worthwhile updates. And finally, she'd taken to random web searches. After searching movies, hot actors, music, butterflies, kittens, puppies, candy bars, and video games she tried looking up Anime. Kitty recalled how Jubilee and Bobby would always sit together to watch that stuff. She'd always ignored it, but now boredom and curiosity drove her to investigate it further. So she typed 'Anime' into the text field, clicked the 'search now' button, and waited for the results. What she found was not terribly encouraging.

The first page or two of results turned out to be either porn sites or X-rated cartoons. With a sigh of frustration, she added '-porn' to her search request and tried again. This thinned the ranks of dirty sites though a few were bound to slip through some way or another. She then spent a good hour picking her way through innumerable fan sites trying to gain information on the foreign cartoons. Some of the things she found actually turned out to be quite fascinating and she made notes to look up those particular series for later. But the rest was either too explicit, too graphic, too violent, too complex, or too weird for her. Now she'd had enough of it all and was completely bored again.

Kitty felt a pair of eyes watching her and had to suppress the urge to spin her chair around and snap at the watcher. Ever since Friday night, Kurt had been in the doghouse with her. He'd left without any word or warning which had left her almost sick with worry. Then he'd reappeared out of nowhere and scared the crap out of her. And after all of that he had yet to give her any sort of excuse or explanation for his bizarre, uncharacteristic actions. So from Friday on she had given him the Silent Treatment with a healthy dose of the Cold Shoulder. Until he apologized to her, explained himself, or Logan made her would she relent. So she remained focused on her policy of silence and restrained herself from paying the blue furball any attention. Kitty glared at her screen before she brought up the solitaire program to occupy herself for a while.

"Kitty?" Kurt hesitantly whimpered.

Kitty halted her electronic card game. She kept forgetting how child-like and innocent he could sound. When she'd first met him his voice had always been flat and emotionless. At some point it had changed so that occasionally he would sound a bit more like a normal human being. After the shock of his childish plea faded she resumed playing. She wouldn't give in until she was satisfied.

"Kitty, whatever it was that I did, I'm sorry." Kurt meekly apologized.

_Finally! It only took him three whole days! _She thought sarcastically. She spun her chair around and silently marched up to where the blue fuzzy German lazed on his bed. Now she was going to give him a piece of her mind and maybe inform him of exactly what he'd done wrong at the same time. As she flopped down in front of him he started in surprise and cracked his head against the ceiling. The fuzzy demon then spent a minute or two clutching his bruised head and cussing. Well, at least she guessed he was cussing since he was speaking in German so she couldn't understand a word he said. When he finished, she started.

"How ignorant are you? How can you not know what you did? You ditch me, make me worry, scare me half to death, you fail to explain why, and you don't know what you did to piss me off?" Kitty snapped in her best evil, pissed off tone of voice. With every word she spat his eyes grew wider and the rest of him seemed to get smaller. Now that she was finished he looked tiny and rather silly. "Now do me a favor and explain yourself." Kitty commanded. She stiffly crossed her arms and waited.

"E-explain what?" Kurt stammered, trying his best to sound calm. Kitty glared venomously at him.

"You know what I mean." She growled.

"No I don't." Kurt replied.

"Yes you do." Kitty snapped.

"No I don't." He denied.

"Fine, I'll ask you again. Why did you leave the Blue Lotus club without telling me anything?" Kitty impatiently asked.

Kurt's mouth snapped shut and he looked away. Kitty glared daggers at him, but he seemed unaffected. Kitty frowned and shifted so that she was sitting right in front of his face. He looked back the other way. Kitty narrowed her eyes and started to poke him. The fuzzy Mutant flinched the first few times before he became numb to it. She growled a little in frustration before an idea formed in her mind. Kitty crawled behind the blue fuzzball and pounced on him. She pinned his arms to his sides and clung to his back like a human leech. Immediately Kurt froze, no matter how many times she touched him he still couldn't seem to cope with it. Kitty smirked victoriously, she had him now.

"Please answer me." Kitty cutely begged.

Apparently Kurt wasn't able to handle it because in the next second there was a BAMF sound combined with a small explosion of foul sulfuric smoke. Kurt vanished and the abruptness startled her so much that she fell through his bed and crash-landed on hers. For a couple minutes she just laid there and let her brain process what just occurred. After that was accomplished she sat up with the intention to hunt down her wayward elf. As she stood up she became aware of some sort of material in her hands. Kitty raised the object to eye-level and looked puzzled for a second. Then it clicked and she burst out laughing. Kurt must _really _been rattled. When he teleported away he'd left his shirt behind!

Kitty wasn't exactly sure how long she laughed, but it took her a few minutes to calm down and catch her breath. As she recovered from her laughing fit she surveyed the room. The solitaire game still was glowing on her laptop so she shut it down before leaving on her little elf hunt. She peeked in Logan's room and found it dark and empty. She took a few more steps and checked the bathroom, but no German elf was to be found. Kitty walked out into the kitchen that she found to be spotless and elf-free. Then when she peered around the corner into the living room she spotted a blue fuzzy tail swishing back and forth as it hung over the arm of the couch. Once again she smirked in victory. _Gotcha!_

* * *

Kurt lay stretched out flat on the couch facing the television set. The blank black screen reflected his glowing yellowish eyes back at him and he shivered. _Monster. _The word rose unbidden from some dark corner of his mind and echoed menacingly through his skull. _Demon. _A nameless, faceless voice hissed the word, which blended together with the first. _Devil. _A third voice snarled adding a third word to the noise swirling between his ears. _Beast. _A fourth voice sang out in hateful glee. _Animal. _A fifth voice spat with bitterness and spite. _Freak. _A final voice muttered in a tone laced with biting venom. All six voices and their words warped into a dark cruel song that cut and slashed at him. He clenched his eyes shut against the mental noise as his tail twitched jerkily in agitation. The voices wouldn't stop.

With his eyes closed and his mind turned inward he failed to notice that he wasn't alone. So he jerked in surprise when the couch shifted beneath him and a solid weight settled against his stomach. He opened his eyes slowly, unsure of what he would see. The his heart sank and his mental turmoil receded into the background a bit. Kitty, the last person he wanted to see right now, was perched on the edge of the couch and smiling evilly at him. He wanted to move away from her, but what happened several minutes previously and the distracting buzz inside his brain made it not worth the effort. For what must've ten minutes she sat there grinning wickedly at him and not saying a word. The slightly muted buzz of voices was starting to give him a headache when he decided to face whatever doom she was itching to release upon him.

"What?" Kurt growled in irritation.

"Aren't you missing something?" Kitty asked him oh-so-sweetly.

"What?" He asked again feeling confused and a bit suspicious.

"Well, you certainly left in a hurry before. Are you sure you didn't leave anything behind?" She asked innocently.

"No, I didn't." He replied with a frown. She only smiled wider, if that was possible.

"Oh I think you did." She teased wickedly.

"I did not!" Kurt growled darkly. The voices were growing louder again.

"Yes you did." She firmly stated and poked her index finger into his chest.

Kurt looked down to glare at the offending finger as the voices sounded like they were screaming at him. Then something began slowly registering in his mind. He saw the finger with its well-manicured, brightly painted nail pressing into his blue-furred chest. A _bare _blue-furred chest that showed no sign of the green T-shirt that was supposed to be covering it. The instant he realized that his shirt was missing his face grew hot and he fled. He made a mad dash back to the bedroom and frantically hunted for the missing article of clothing.

As he was about to tear the room apart a sound, a real non-imagined sound, reached his ears. Kitty was laughing at him. Kurt turned to see her almost doubled over and laughing her head off. The panic began to fade some and the stupid voices quieted down a bit, but both things still remained. His face felt like it was on fire now and he wondered if the fur on his face would spontaneously combust soon. He looked down thoroughly embarrassed and gratefully noticed that at least he still had his pants on. His tail lashed nervously before he forced it to coil around his leg. He was beginning to squirm now and still her laughter showed no signs of ending.

"S-stop. Stop it." He managed to choke out weakly.

"Sorry," she giggled. "It's just the look on your face was so funny and then you went flying out of the room faster than I've ever seen you move! If only I'd had a camera!" She cried between fits of laughter. Then she managed to calm herself down to continue. "You really didn't have to worry about it. If you'd have waited a bit I would've given you your shirt you silly boy." Kitty said teasingly and tossed the missing green shirt at him. He only just barely caught it and quickly pulled it on over his head. His shame and embarrassment only grew and mixed with anger, annoyance, confusion, and those stupid voices that churned through his mind uttering hateful words that he knew were all too true.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kitty asked suddenly right in front of him and very serious. He realized that he was almost gasping from breath, which he corrected before answering.

"Leave me alone. Haven't you done enough for today?" Kurt growled threateningly.

"You didn't answer my question." Kitty stiffly replied.

"I'm fine!" He snapped even though he knew he wasn't. He really just needed to be left alone for a while.

"You're not a very good spy, you suck at lying." Kitty declared.

"Just leave me alone!" Kurt snarled. The roar in his head was getting worse and it made his head pound. _Why won't she leave!?_

"Why should I? This is my room too. Now just relax." Kitty grumbled and dragged him by the arm to her bed. "Now sit, calm down, and tell me what is up with you." She commanded. He looked away from her and struggled to shove the voices away, but that only seemed to make things worse. He tried pinching the bridge of his nose hoping that physical pain would help him focus.

"Do you have a headache?" She asked. He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. "Wait here, I'll be right back." She muttered before departing. When she came back she had a glass of water and two pills. "Here, have some Tylenol." She said quietly handing him the glass and pressing the two pills into his fuzzy palm. Reluctantly he downed the pills and set the empty glass on a nearby dresser. Then Kitty slipped an arm around his shoulders and pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder.

"_W-was?!_" Kurt stammered suddenly very nervous about such familiar contact.

"Relax, being stressed out only makes it worse." Kitty sighed.

"E-easier s-said than done." He muttered miserably.

"Just try, okay?" She groaned.

Kurt kept his mouth shut. It wasn't worth the effort to protest anymore, there was no escape for him. With a deep, shaky sigh of resignation he set himself to relaxing. For a while he managed only partial success. When he got some of his muscles to loosen, Kitty would twitch or shift and remind him of her presence and they would lock up again. This went on for what seemed like hours until Kitty tried something different. He felt her arm move against his back and the now quite familiar sensation of panic bubbled up in his chest. What was she going to do to him now? Then he felt her fingertips rub a certain spot on his neck just behind his ear.

In about one minute he felt more relaxed than he had in years. He felt so good right now that he must be dreaming. There was no way he could be awake and feeling this way. Only Mama and Papa knew how to do what Kitty was doing right now. Only they knew his special spots, places where just the right touch could make him feel like a million bucks. There was only one way he knew of to properly express his gratitude for what she was doing. He purred. He purred and melted into a boneless heap on top of her lap. This action must've caught her off-guard because she stopped, but he didn't really mind. The good feeling didn't really fade that much and he realized that these horrible voices and their dark whispered words had completely vanished. He felt so good he could almost smile. _There is nothing on earth that can ruin my mood now._

"Can I have my explanation now?" Kitty asked quietly. Kurt flinched and was flooded with shame. _I spoke too soon._

"I don't know what happened." Kurt reluctantly admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kitty asked half-irritated, half-curious.

"One minute I was fine and the next I wasn't." He replied.

"Explain the not being fine part please." She quietly commanded.

"All of a sudden I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think straight and everything was closing in on me. I had to get out of there, I had to get away. I-I was so afraid." He whispered in shame. He closed his eyes and waited for her anger to crush him.

"Oh, so that's it. Why didn't you tell me this before?" Kitty wondered.

"I was afraid." Kurt mumbled with his eyes still closed.

"Silly boy. Never be afraid to tell me anything, okay?" She scolded.

"Okay." Kurt muttered.

"Good." Kitty replied, satisfied by his answer.

Kurt felt like some invisible weight that he hadn't known was there had been removed. She wasn't all that angry with him and he felt forgiven. Distantly he was aware of her talking about some people she'd met at the club, but he didn't really pay attention. He knew that none of these people she spoke of were important. Neither of them had any solid leads so that meant these people were just her friends. As she babbled on she began to stroke that special spot again, which swiftly sent him off into La-La Land. This time he actually did smile a little before he slept.


	19. Snow Day

**Chapter 18**

**Snow Day**

Kitty idly fiddled with a lock of her brown hair as she silently stared up at the bottom of the bunk above her. It was still a bit early to be awake for a teenager not in school on a Tuesday, but awake she was and she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again anytime soon. She didn't feel the least bit tired, but she wasn't quite ready to get out of bed yet. Instead of getting up, she let her mind wander. She thought of all that had happened since she had left the Institute and arrived in Chicago. And she thought of all the people she had met.

Amanda Sefton was the first person that Kitty had met since arriving here that she considered a friend. She was a nice girl from a good family who enjoyed clubbing but avoided drugs and alcohol. When Kitty first met Amanda, they hit it off instantly. They liked the same TV shows, types of music, movies, and magazines. They shared similar opinions on most issues and they had similar senses of fashion. They were perfect for each other (in a non-romantic way) and Kitty found herself wishing that Amanda was a Mutant and her roommate instead of Rogue. But they had their minor differences as all friends do. Amanda seemed to be developing some kind of interest in Kurt, which could be a serious problem in the near future. And Amanda also was against Lance. She never trusted him and claimed that he always made her uncomfortable when he came around.

Lance Alvers was the super-handsome bouncer of the Blue Lotus nightclub and her current love interest. Yes, love interest. He had replaced Piotr in her affections and cured her of her impossible crush. No longer would Rogue be able to manipulate her, she was free! Lance was only two years older than she was while Piotr was a good ten years her senior, making Lance the more logical choice. A relationship between her and Piotr would've never worked out. Even if the age gap between them had been reduced, he would still only see her as a little sister. Lance never had that problem. He saw her as a gorgeous woman and told her so repeatedly. And while Lance was rough with the club patrons he was ejecting, he was unfailingly kind and gentle with her. To Kitty, he was a dream come true.

Kurt Wagner the Nightcrawler and German agent known official as DX-0 was anything _but_ a dream come true. When he first arrived, he was a nightmare. His appearance was frightening and his lack of emotion and personality was even worse. Then when she'd managed to acclimate herself to him he began to change into something else. Now he was more like a permanently nervous, shy boy trapped in a young man's body. The emotionless zombie was now afraid of just about everything and prone to panic. If he was the best the Germans had, then she felt sorry for Germany. Kitty rolled her eyes as she rolled out of bed. She paused at the door and glanced back at the top bunk to see that its occupant was still asleep. With a sigh she headed off to take her shower, the sooner this mission was over the better.

After her wonderfully steamy shower, Kitty prepared herself breakfast. Feeling a craving for chocolate, she poured herself a bowl of some generic brand of chocolate flavored cereal. As she crunched on the chocolate-laced corn puffs, she focused her attention on the empty chair before her. Logan hadn't been here to eat breakfast with her for over a week now. When she'd asked him why, he told her that he was very close to the information he needed and the more involved he was with them the sooner it would be over. So now he spent the majority of his time out and away coming back only to sleep, shower, and snag a couple sandwiches before leaving again. Kitty couldn't help but be a little jealous. After just over one month she had only one possible lead while Logan looked to be only a few steps away from learning everything he needed to know. It made her feel a little useless.

The pop of the toaster startled Kitty out of her musings and pulled her back to the here and now. The first thing she spotted was Kurt pulling freshly toasted waffles out of the toaster. Even though his eyes were open he still looked like he was sleeping. That headache he'd had last night must've really done a number on him. She remembered back just before her Mutant powers manifested how bad her headaches used to get. There were times she thought her head might explode. Sometimes she almost wished it would so the pain would stop. Whenever those mysterious migraines flared up her mother would bring her some pills and sit with her until the agony completely subsided. Seeing Kurt in that sort of pain reminded her of those old headaches and drove her to try to help him the same way her mother had helped her. It must've been the right thing to do if his purring was any indication.

"Good morning!" Kitty sang flashing him a cheery grin. The blue fuzz-covered demon slowly peered up from his plate with bleary yellow eyes squinting against the dim light of the kitchen.

"What is so good about it?" Kurt muttered with a heavier than normal accent.

"What's so bad about it?" She cheerfully countered.

"I asked you first." He growled.

"So?" She asked with her most charming smile. He looked back at her blankly before sighing.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower." Kurt grumbled as he stood to dump his used plate in the sink.

Kitty watched him stagger off to the bathroom with disappointment. He hadn't lasted very long at all this time. With a pout she finished off her cereal and took care of the dirty dishes. When the dishes were cleaned, dried, and put away she found herself with nothing to do. As she leaned up against the kitchen wall she could feel tendrils of boredom starting to creep up her limbs. If there was one thing she hated being it was being bored. She pushed off of the wall and began to wander about the small apartment in search of something to do. The muffled rushing of water told her that Kurt was in the shower so she couldn't bug him. She paused for a moment to wonder if her earlier dishwashing had messed with his shower water enough for him to notice.

Kitty looked towards the small window near the television set and was surprised by what she saw. With a childish squeal of glee she darted over to the window and looked out. The normally plain, drab buildings that surrounded them were thickly blanketed with white. Sometime in the night it had snowed. Fat fluffy white flakes lazily drifted down from the lumpy gray clouds above were slowly adding to the thick frozen blanket that had already fallen. The sight of all the beautiful snow brought images of Christmas lights, decorated trees, and candle-lit menorahs to her mind along with a bright smile. November was ending and December was beginning bringing with it snow, winter sports, winter holidays, and the change of the year. Kitty hated cold weather, but she loved snow.

In less than five minutes Kitty came to a decision. She was going to go outside and play in the snow. But she had a small problem; she didn't want to go alone. At first she tried to call Amanda on her cell phone but was immediately sent to voice mail. Seeing how thick the blanket of snow was Kitty was certain that school had been cancelled today, but without being in school herself she had no way to know for sure. If Amanda's cell phone was off there were three likely explanations, the phone was charging, she was in school, or she was out of school and still in bed. In any case it seemed that trying to hook up with Amanda this early in the day wasn't going to happen.

After some internal debate and a bout of shyness Kitty tried to call Lance. He was old enough to be out of high school and he'd made no mention of college so school wouldn't be an issue with him. Nervously she dialed the number he had given her the second night she'd known him. After a few nerve-wracking rings she was directed to his voice mail. She left a message but had little hope that he'd get it in time to do much about it. Kitty sighed in frustration and put the phone back in its cradle with a pout. Now with Lance no longer an option who would go with her? Aside from Lance and Amanda there was no person she'd met in the club that she trusted enough to go out and do things with.

The creak of a door pulled her attention away from her thoughts of snow and her search for company and brought her focus to the dark hallway. A still very sleepy looking Kurt trudged out of the shadowed hall like a supernatural wraith. She watched silently from the window as he ponderously made his way to the couch and flopped down on it. A few minutes later the TV screen slowly began to glow and form pictures and sounds. The channel was still the same one that it had been last night. Kurt never changed the channel, even when she yelled at him to do it. It was like he didn't know how to press any other button besides the bright red power button. Kitty rolled her eyes; he could be so pathetically boring sometimes.

But then Kitty was struck by an idea. She could take Kurt with her to go out in the snow! Now all she had to do was persuade him. She spent a few minutes thinking before she came up with a plan of action. Kitty scampered off to the coat closet near the door and slipped on her pair of winter boots for the first time this season. She admired the fluffy white fake fur that rimmed the top of her black boots before she put on her jacket. Quietly she zipped up the thin but fleece lined black winter coat and rearranged her hood that had white fur that matched her boots. She then removed Kurt's dark green coat from its hanger and tiptoed behind the couch. Once she was in position she cheerfully tossed his coat over his head and giggled when he thrashed about in surprise.

"What was that for?" Kurt growled irritatedly as he glared out at her from under his coat.

"We are going outside." Kitty declared with a confident smile.

"This early?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, now put on your coat so we can get going." She firmly directed.

"No, it's too early and too cold. Go by yourself if you want to go out so badly." Kurt grumbled looking back towards the television.

"I don't want to go by myself so you are coming with me." She confidently replied. Kitty then deftly snatched the remote from Kurt's and turned the distracting TV off.

"Hey, I was watching that!" He snarled and whirled back around to face her and glare. Kitty ignored him completely.

"Not anymore. Now get up, put your coat on, and let's go!" She chirped.

"No I'm not going with you. Now give me back the remote." Kurt growled.

"Oh come on, please?" Kitty begged with all her charm.

Kurt glared defiantly at her and refused to answer. Kitty added a pleading pout to her cute begging expression, but his glare didn't waver. She tried adding in a trembling lower lip but still no change. Then she tried adding the cute puppy dog eyes to the mix that completed the ultimate cute face. This face was so powerful that even Logan, the Wolverine, would give in to it. Kurt, however, somehow remained unaffected, his glare was unchanged. This called for a slight change of tactics. She straightened up and walked around from the back of the couch to the front and crouched a few inches in front of his face. Kurt's eyes widened slightly and his breathing grew irregular. Kitty restrained the urge to smile, _I've got him now!_

"Pretty please?" She begged. He squirmed but stubbornly stayed silent. "Pretty please with sugar on top?" She pleaded resting her cheek on his chest. Kurt's eyes were perfectly round now and it didn't look like he was breathing. "It'll be fun." Kitty half-whispered.

"A-alright fine! Just g-get off!" Kurt gasped finally giving in to her overwhelming power of cuteness.

"Great, now let's go!" Kitty cried leaping to her feet with a blinding grin.

"Why do you want to go outside anyway?" He muttered sourly as he jerked on his coat.

"You'll see." She promised teasingly.

Kurt gave her yet another nasty look, which she ignored. When he finally had his coat on and hologram in place she nearly skipped to the door. While he trudged after her, she scampered on ahead and was forced to wait at every single landing for him. By the time she reached the door leading outside she was fed up with his slow pace and tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for him to catch up. When he managed to catch up to her she gave him a nasty look before her smile returned. She grabbed him firmly by the wrist and hauled him straight through the still closed door to avoid any problems with the snow. The wind that hit her on the other side of the door was cold, but refreshing after the warm stuffy air of the apartment building. The sight of so much clean white snow lifted her spirits and with a deep breath she set off for a wide-open space so she could properly enjoy the winter weather.

* * *

Kurt sullenly stumbled his way through the many inch deep snow as he followed the girl that he was really start to hate. She might claim to only be able to phase, but he knew otherwise. She had to possess some second power of influence or manipulation. There was no other explanation for how he got out here in the snow and cold. How else could she get him to bend to her wishes with a few words, an expression, a few simple touches? The very memory of what she was able to do to him sent hot tingly shivers racing along his nerves. These unfamiliar alien sensations must be a part of her hidden power and they made him distinctly uncomfortable. With a final shudder he tried to focus on something else.

He glanced down at the snow beneath his feet and frowned. This wasn't a thin layer of light powdery snow, that kind of snow he wouldn't give a damn about. No, this was a blanket of wet, sticky snow that was at least seven inches deep. Kitty just had to drag him outside when there was snow that was wet, sticky, and went over the cuffs of his pants. The white wet stuff was starting to clump and crust around his ankles making it just a little bit harder to take the next few steps. Through his white misty breath he could see his oddly shaped but thankfully indistinct footprints trailing off behind him. Every few strides his tail would lightly brush against the loose top layer of snow and leave a strange mark behind. He could only hope that whoever ended up shoveling these sidewalks didn't pay too much attention to his tracks.

Kurt looked up from the ground and suddenly realized that Kitty was no longer in front of him. At first he wasn't terribly alarmed. The whole time they'd been walking she had always been rushing ahead of him. She simply must've gotten so far ahead when he hadn't been looking that she was out of sight. To find her again was a simple matter; all he had to do was follow her footprints in the snow. He hadn't followed her trail for very long when it curved off the sidewalk and into a wooded park type area. With a shrug he went in doing his best to avoid the deep drifts. As he trudged deeper and deeper into the park he began to worry. It had been over ten minutes since he'd last caught sight of her; she couldn't have gotten this far ahead of him. Then within a loose circle of trees her tracks stopped.

Kurt froze and blinked in shock. Kitty's footprints just ended in the middle of the clearing and she wasn't anywhere in sight. Now his worry escalated to low-level panic. He spun around in circles searching for a glimpse of her or some sort of clue, but all he saw were black leafless branches coated in snow. He tried standing very still and listening for her, but all he heard was the faint whistling breeze and the creaking of branches. No matter which way he looked all he saw was swirling white snow. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like his ribs were in danger of breaking. His blood rushed and roared in his ears making it difficult to hear much of anything. He was so stressed out that his blood must be pure adrenaline by now.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement. With all his stress and adrenaline he unconsciously slipped into his military training and he instinctively lashed out. He spun around and sent his tail out of his holographic shell and slicing through the air in one swift, fluid movement. He could tell that his tail hit something, but he hadn't a clue as to what. He stared hard in the direction that the mysterious object came from but he still saw nothing. Slowly he crouched down to examine the thing that he'd hit while he kept one eye fixed on the trees. After a few minutes he finally managed to figure out what it was that he'd hit. It was a snowball. He'd smashed it pretty good but it was definitely a snowball. _What the Hell?_

The he heard the giggling. He was still locked into combat mode so he dashed off in search of the sound's source. In two seconds flat he was upside-down clinging to the bark of a tree and staring down at the laughing girl who had been hiding from him. At first he was unable to identify her since he was looking down at her from above, but her laugh was oddly familiar. As the rush of adrenaline began to fade it finally hit him who she was. The laughing girl was the same as the girl that he had lost, she was Kitty. Instantly he fell out of his combat mode and went back to being his normal self. This was the last straw for his poor nerves and he slowly slid down the trunk of the tree to collapse in a boneless heap in the snow. _This girl is going to be the death of me._

"Oh my God!" Kitty giggled. "The look on your face! Your reaction was priceless!" She laughed.

"Shut up." Kurt croaked weakly.

"Oh come on, it was funny and you know it!" Kitty snickered.

"No it wasn't!" He snapped.

"Yes it was!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.

"No, it scared me half to death." He grumbled.

"It did?" Kitty asked oddly confused by his reaction.

"Of course it did! One minute you were in front of me and the next you were gone!" Kurt half-snarled.

"Well, didn't you see my footprints?" She asked a bit timidly.

"Yes, but those stopped in the middle of this park and I didn't see you anywhere!" He snapped roughly.

"Sorry, I didn't think that you'd flip out over it." She mumbled. "I was only playing."

"Playing?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, don't tell me that you've never been in a snowball fight before." Kitty replied.

Kurt leaned back against the trunk of the tree and stared out dazedly into space. _A snowball fight. _That's all that it had been. Kitty had innocently tried to play a harmless children's game with him and he'd taken it the wrong way. What she saw as a game, he saw as a violent threat and had reacted accordingly. If he hadn't heard and seen her when he had, he could've hurt her. He'd been half a second away from dropping off the tree for a debilitating, if not fatal, strike and she didn't have a clue. He had been intensively trained in just about every way to fight and kill a person. Though he had yet to put this extensive knowledge to use, he prayed that he never had to. These dark thoughts made him feel so cold inside that the frozen snow warm by comparison.

Numbly he turned to look for Kitty only to discover that she was missing again. At this point, his nerves were shot, so instead of panicking like before, he simply dragged himself back up and went to find her. This time her tracks were more meandering and didn't mysteriously vanish. He followed her trail through the woods without a problem. He was so far away from the streets now that the faint rumblings of plow trucks and snow blowers faded beyond his hearing. As far as he could tell, he and Kitty were the only people out here. There were no other tracks in the fresh, undisturbed snow, and aside from the faint whisperings of the wind there was no other sound. Just as he reached the edge of the park's mini-forest he decided on a risky course of action.

With the pressing of a button the illusion of an ordinary looking dark-haired boy dissolved to reveal a blue demon. He went through several different stretches before he felt satisfied and clambered up a tree with minimal effort. How long since he'd climbed trees just for the fun of it? How long since he'd been outside of a building with his hologram off? With a deep refreshing breath of icy air he decided that it had been too long. Up near the top of the tree he almost believed in the false sense of freedom it gave him. It cleared his mind of the dark shadows that lingered there and resettled his frayed nerves. He felt better than he had in years and it lifted his spirits some. With his head back on straight he recalled that he was looking for Kitty and returned to that task.

From his high vantage point in the trees he easily followed her trail the last few yards to the edge of a field. As he leapt from one tree to the next he sent cascades of snow tumbling down from the branches. When he reached the field, he scanned the open space and seeing only Kitty he dropped and silently and approached her. She appeared to be admiring the view formed by the snow falling from the gray sky to the pure white field below. He couldn't be sure though as she wasn't facing him. She could be doing any number of things and that made him slightly nervous. While she meant no real harm in it, he knew she gained some sort of entertainment in messing with his head. Without seeing her expression he had no way of knowing if she was planning something or not.

She must've heard him crunching through the snow because when he was just out of arms reach of her she turned around to face him. He froze in wonder at what he saw. Kitty had removed the scrunchy that held her hair in its usual high ponytail leaving her long brown hair to fall over her shoulders and down her back. Her blue eyes seemed to glow all the brighter without competition from the blue sky. Her fair skin was flushed a pretty shade of pink from the cold air. Her expression was calm and serene though it was obvious that she was very happy. Despite the cloudy gray sky there was enough light to illuminate her features in a way that gave her an ethereal look. At this particular moment she looked to him like an angel that was temporarily stranded on earth. Any second now he expected her to sprout white feathered wings and fly away.

"Kurt, why is your hologram thing off?" Kitty asked curiously. This jolted him out of his awed stupor and he found that he was incredibly thankful that the hologram was off. Without it Kitty wouldn't be able to see his blush.

"Well, uh, nobody else is around here so I don't need it." He replied.

"Oh, that makes sense." She muttered to herself. Kitty turned back to gaze at the snowy landscape and fell silent. For once the silence bothered him and he felt compelled to say something.

"So why did you want to come out here so early?" Kurt asked nervously.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Kitty asked.

"Um, no. Was I supposed to?" He wondered.

"I came out to enjoy the first snow of the season!" She laughingly exclaimed. "You have to get out early to enjoy snow in the city. If you wait too long it gets shoveled, salted, exhaust stained, and walked through. Snow isn't half as much fun after it gets all messed up." She explained.

"So why did you have to drag me with you?" Kurt asked.

"Like I said before, I didn't want to come out her alone. Snow is twice as much fun if there's someone else to enjoy it with." Kitty replied cheerfully.

"So why me? Couldn't you have gone with someone else? Don't you have friends from the club?" Kurt wondered idly playing with some snow.

"I tried calling Amanda and Lance but neither of them answered. And since Logan's never around anymore there was only you left." Kitty answered.

"So I was the fourth choice?" Kurt muttered quietly still fiddling with the sticky snow.

"Well, yeah. But only because you don't seem to like doing much. I'd rather not have to drag you places if I don't have to." Kitty answered a bit nervously.

"So because no one else was available you made me come along against my will." Kurt stated.

"Um, I-I already told you that I didn't want to go by myself." She stammered fidgeting nervously.

"But I didn't want to come, you forced me to." Kurt calmly reminded her as he drew up right behind her shoulder.

"W-well, I knew that I could convince you to come so I did. Sorry if it bothered you." Her voice wavered a bit at the beginning but managed to sound defiant at the end.

"Sorry? Is that all you have to say to me?" Kurt demanded.

Kitty turned slightly to face him and defend herself, just like he wanted her to. He couldn't say where the idea came from; it just sort of appeared in his head when he played with the snow. He thought of her recent attempt to instigate a snowball fight along with the many snowball wars he'd been involved in as a child. Now with her facing him he was ready to put his plan into action. But first he felt that he had to give her some warning. So he did the only thing that he could think of. He smiled. Kitty was caught off guard, he'd only smiled once near her and she obviously hadn't seen it, so she just stared in astonishment. He took this opportunity to strike. Using all his speed and skill he pulled back her coat collar from her neck and shoved the snowball he'd made down her back.

Kitty gasped from the shock of the cold, wet snow and what he'd just done. With his little plan completed he leapt back out of easy reach and landed in a spread-legged stance, ready for anything. His tail lashed from side to side in barely contained excitement as he waited for her to recover her wits. It took her several minutes to accept what had just happened, but when she did she retaliated swiftly and fiercely. She threw snowball after snowball at him but she might as well have been aiming at his shadow. With his reflexes and agility she would never hit him. At first that made her mad, but after a while she seemed to be enjoying herself. She'd wanted this snowball fight and he'd given it to her. He couldn't remember having this much fun since his eighth birthday party.


	20. Spiky Drinks Are Fun!

**Chapter 19**

**Spiky Drinks Are Fun!**

Kitty lounged casually in a shady corner booth of the Blue Lotus nightclub. The music was a little less intense than it normally was. Instead of rattling teeth out of skulls it merely caused a faint buzzing sensation in the chest. But beyond that there was no obvious difference between this visit and all her previous visits to this club. The lights still flashed white and blue, dark lights still illuminated the small warehouse sized club, and it was still a minor Mecca for ecstasy users. Outside of her little booth there was a roiling sea of humanity dancing, grinding, drinking, smoking, and rolling. The air stank of sweat, smoke, and cologne so strongly that she felt that every time she came here that she lost her sense of smell. But despite the possible dangers and the minor downsides this was the place to be.

It was a pity that Amanda couldn't make it tonight. She'd called Kitty just before she'd left home to say that she wouldn't be there. She had relatives visiting so she had to stay home the whole weekend. Kitty had wished her well with promises to talk later before hanging up. Kitty really missed having Amanda with her, but with Amanda away she could spend all her time with Lance. Logan was doing just fine without her help, so unless she stumbled over something important on accident she wouldn't bother actively searching for it anymore. She would just relax and enjoy herself. Now she was just waiting for Lance to get back with their drinks. He'd left about five minutes ago and he should be back any minute now.

"Hey Pretty-Kitty! Did you miss me?" Lance asked in her ear making her jump.

"Lance, you jerk!" Kitty giggled. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Aw, come on Kitty! You're ruining my fun." Lance whined playfully.

"Just don't do it again." She insisted lightly smacking his arm. Lance pouted.

"Alright, fine." He sighed dramatically. He sat down across from her and slid her the drink she'd asked for. Before she drank from the can she noticed that it was already open.

"Lance, why is this can open?" She asked cautiously.

"I didn't want you to worry about breaking one of your pretty nails so I opened it for you." He replied with a teasing smile. Kitty studied him for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Well alright, but next time don't bother. I am perfectly able to open a pop can all by myself." She responded with mock seriousness before downing a huge gulp out of her 7up can. She could trust Lance, he was a great guy. He'd never spike her drink.

* * *

Kurt slowly sloshed the liquid around inside his Pepsi can. This wasn't a can that Kitty had brought to him. He'd bought this one himself. Kitty had promised him that she would stop by at least once, but he didn't expect her to follow through. Outside the club he could trust her to keep her promises, but inside her word became worth next to nothing. He sighed quietly and sank lower in his seat. Under the table his tail rhythmically tapped against the thick metal pole that connected the tabletop to the floor. His toes tapped a sort of counter-rhythm against the tiled floor. Normally when he was sitting here he would spend half the time battling waves of anxiety, but not this time. This time all he felt was loneliness.

From Tuesday all the way up to today he and Kitty had gone out to play in the snow. After the first day of snow it was too risky for them to use their powers or for him to wander about without his hologram on. Now that the streets had been plowed and the sidewalks were shoveled there were more people around. But despite there new limitations they still had fun playing in the snow. Kitty would take him to the half-wooded park that he'd first seen on Tuesday and they would simply start walking through it. Then one of the would start something either by throwing a snowball or shoving some snow down a jacket. Then it would erupt into a full blown snow battle, Nightcrawler versus Shadowcat.

When one of them became too tired or too cold to continue he would lead them to a hidden spot and teleport them back to the apartment. There they would change into dry clothes and drink hot cocoa. They would sit together on the couch covered by a blanket while they sipped their warm drinks and watched TV. As they entertained themselves with the shows on the television set Kitty would snuggle up to him for added warmth. It would startle him every time she did it, but when she failed to do anything else to him he would manage to relax. By the end of the week this became a comfortable routine to Kurt. It was something that he found himself looking forward to everyday.

Kurt knew that he shouldn't get attached to this new routine. Once his job was done he would go back to Germany and then all of this would cease to be. It was highly unlikely that he would ever return to this American city and he would certainly never see Kitty or Mr. Logan ever again. He would get back on a plane and return to the life he had lived for nine years. It would be back to his barren concrete cell for empty hours on end broken only by food and training. That lonely existence was his future and his past. His present was nothing more than a mildly pleasant dream wedged in-between vast stretches of nightmare. The weight of such dark musings made him wilt in his seat.

"Hi!" A cheerful voice yelled in his ear making him jump. Kurt turned and was confronted by a dark skinned African girl.

"Uh, hello?" He replied nervously scooting as far away from this strange girl as he could.

"I finally found you!" She squealed with excitement. Kurt stared at her blankly.

"Do I know you?" He asked slowly. The very excited girl suddenly became very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry; I've gotten a little ahead of myself. I'm Amanda Sefton, one of Kitty's friends." She explained.

"What do you mean 'I finally found you'?" Kurt demanded.

"I've been trying to find you for a few weeks now." She answered.

"Why?" Kurt asked getting very confused.

"Because I want to get to know you." Amanda replied.

"Why?" He asked again. This girl was really starting to creep him out.

"Because the first time I saw you, you looked interesting." She answered.

"When did you first see me?" Kurt asked feeling slightly alarmed by this conversation.

"A few weeks ago when you were looking for Kitty." Amanda answered. Kurt frowned and thought back to the time she was referring to and vaguely recalled running across a girl that looked the same as this Amanda Sefton.

"You're one of Kitty's friends?" He asked unsure of what she'd said earlier.

"Yes I am." Amanda happily replied.

"Then why aren't you with her?" Kurt wondered.

"Well, I was supposed to have relatives over this weekend so I couldn't go out. But it turns out that my relatives weren't able to make it so I was free to come here." She cheerfully explained.

"How does that keep you from being with Kitty?" He asked completely confused.

"I already told her that I couldn't make it tonight so it would be really awkward if I suddenly showed up." She claimed.

"That's a stupid reason. If she's really a friend she shouldn't mind." Kurt pointed out.

"Well, she's probably with Lance now and I'd rather not disturb them." Amanda complained.

"Oh really?" Kurt muttered stiffly.

"Yes, really. All they do is flirt and cuddle and it makes me sick." She bitterly complained. Kurt glowered at his pop can instead of replying. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Amanda asked, changing the subject.

"Um, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Kurt suggested. Amanda was more than happy to comply and began to give a long narrative of her life. Now that she was distracted by her story, Kurt could half-listen to her and safely space out. He really hoped that Kitty would keep her promise this time and come to visit him. That way she would take care of this Sefton girl for him.

* * *

Lance was gone. He'd said something about being right back, but already she was forgetting. She was more interested in her surroundings. Some part of her, a tiny whispering in her head, said this was wrong. What she was seeing was wrong, something was wrong about everything. But the rest of her mind totally ignored that soft rational whisper. The rest of her didn't care about what that voice said. The rest of her was completely and utterly focused on, immersed in, fascinated by everything that happened in the Blue Lotus nightclub. It was the world's biggest, greatest lava lamp.

All movement was in various degrees of slow motion. Sound was garbled, muffled, and distant, like listening to a rock concert underwater. Some outlines were fuzzy and others were sharper than she'd ever seen before. And the whole club itself moved. The walls shivered and slanted. The ceiling caved and bent. And the floor roiled and heaved. The dancing people changed shapes before her eyes. One moment a person was a multi-colored blob, the next they were clearly defined and beautiful, and then they might turn into a weird, perhaps even threatening, monsters. It all made her bubbly and giggly.

And then she had the greatest idea ever. While it was fun to sit and watch, it would be a million times more fun to join in. So that is exactly what she did. She moved to her feet and abandoned the booth without a second thought. She melted effortlessly into the club crowd, touching everyone and being touched by them. The music rumbled through her ear canals, into her brains, down her nerves, and all through the rest of her insides. Several times the moving floor rose up to meet her face, but it never really hurt. When it did happen, she would simply laugh out loud and peel herself free. Time held no meaning for her anymore. All there was in her little world was the movement of dancing. She'd never felt so alive.

* * *

Kurt was getting nervous. It was almost time for him to leave and Kitty hadn't shown up yet. And the Amanda girl seemed to be running out of things to tell him about herself. She'd managed to keep going for several hours, but now he had to pay more and more attention so that he could ask the right questions to keep her talking. This whole situation was really beginning to wear on his nerves. However, he didn't let that show to Amanda; he pretended to be mildly interested in what she said so that she wouldn't ask him any difficult to answer questions. Then something utterly bizarre happened.

"And then my Uncle Frank said… Oh my God." Amanda's story suddenly seemed to be interrupted, so Kurt followed her incredulous gaze to see what was the matter.

"_Was in her Hölle_?" He gasped.

The sight that greeted him was most unexpected. Kitty was dancing out in the crowd, and she looked drunk. He only caught a brief glimpse of her in a small gap in the mass of moving bodies, but he knew what he'd seen without a doubt. Kitty was out there drunk and that was a problem. She might talk to the wrong person and say too much and that would be the end for them. Or she might use her power and reveal herself as a Mutant to people who knew her as a normal girl. And if, by some miracle, neither of those things happened, someone might still take advantage of her. He couldn't let any of that happen.

With grim determination he rose from his seat and went into the crowd to rescue her from herself. Even though she was probably only five yards away it took him almost ten minutes to reach her. There were people all around him packed tightly and dancing like maniacs. It took all his skill and concentration to avoid being smacked or stepped on. And since he was reluctant to touch anyone it was exceedingly difficult to move through the mass of people. He'd never felt any sort of claustrophobia before, but now he felt like he was drowning. The only thing that kept him from fleeing was the thought that he was almost there. Just a little bit further and he would find her.

When he did reach Kitty, he grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her along behind him. She protested his pulling her away from the fun and even fell down once, but he barely paused and paid her words no heed. He did not like being in this rowdy crowd and he was not going to stay in it any longer than absolutely necessary. The closer he managed to get to the edge the faster he tried to move. He almost leapt out of the crush of bodies when he reached the edge. He paused for a moment to calm himself and catch his breath. Then he towed the drunk, sulking Kitty back to where he'd been sitting. He left her in the dark-skinned girl's care and vanished in search of Kitty's jacket. After locating the abandoned jacket and putting it on her, it was time to get her home.

"Lemme go." Kitty slurred, drunkenly flailing around in an attempt to break Kurt's grip on her.

"Stop struggling." Kurt grumbled as he dragged her out into the freezing December night.

"Stop complaining, this is for your own good." Amanda commanded as she followed them out.

"Lemme go, I wanna go back." Kitty whined childishly.

"No, it's late and we're going home." Kurt firmly declared as he dragged her along. Kitty continued to protest loudly an drunkenly the whole way back. Amanda kept following them for a few more blocks until they came to a street where she had to turn left and they went straight.

"Well this is where I leave you guys." Amanda sighed. "Good night."

"_Auf wiedersehen._" Kurt muttered distractedly as he struggled with the combative Kitty.

"I'll see you tomorrow night!" She called out as she walked off.

Kurt didn't answer her. Instead he kept dragging Kitty back to the apartment. After managing to get her one block closer he took her into an alley. Now that Amanda had finally left he was free to take his shortcut home. But before he could teleport them away, she broke free of his grip. She stumbled a few steps away from him, fell to her hands and knees, and retched. Kurt felt very glad that he hadn't managed to hold onto her. When he was completely sure that she was done, he crept up behind her and teleported them away. He brought them straight to the bathroom and left Kitty behind as she sent a few prayers to the porcelain god.

Now that they were safe at home, Kurt allowed himself to relax. He peeled off and put away his coat and got ready for bed. He exchanged his T-shirt and jeans for a loose tank top and a pair of boxer shorts. Since Kitty was in the bathroom he decided to skip brushing his teeth and went directly to bed. With a contended sigh he turned off his hologram and burrowed under the covers. Thankfully Mr. Logan wasn't here, otherwise he'd have been in a world of trouble. Not only were they over an hour late, but Kitty was drunk and puking. They were supposed to be partners and if something bad happened to one of them then the other was at fault. Feeling very tired Kurt began the slow surrender into his sleep.

"Hi!" A cheery drunk voice sang making Kurt snap awake. He turned towards the voice and saw Kitty clinging to the ladder and grinning at him.

"Kitty go to bed." Kurt groaned. He _really _didn't want to deal with her anymore.

"No." She giggled and began to climb onto his bed.

"Get off!" Kurt yelped scooting as far away from her as he could.

"No, I wanna cuddle." She slurred trying to snuggle up to him.

"Why would you want to cuddle with someone like me?" Kurt asked trying to melt into the wall.

"Because you're cuddly and fuzzy and cute." She chirped.

Kurt expected her answer to be something like that. She would occasionally comment that he was cuddly and fuzzy, usually when she was leaning on him while watching TV. But she had never once ever said that he was cute. He stopped squirming and let her have her way. She slipped under the covers with him and wrapped her arms around him. Then she promptly fell asleep. Kurt let her stay. He knew that she wasn't herself right now, but he didn't care. She might protest later, but there was a phrase that she couldn't argue against. _In vino veritas, _in wine truth. Kurt smiled faintly and followed her into the realm of slumber.


	21. Hangovers Are Not Fun

**Chapter 20**

**Hangovers Are Not Fun**

The first thing that Kitty was aware of was a sharp, throbbing pain deep within her skull. Desperately, she tried to burrow deep into the black abyss of blissful unconsciousness to escape the pain, but it was ultimately futile. No matter how hard she tried to make the hurting stop, the pain stubbornly persisted. And the longer that she was aware of it, the clearer her discomfort became. Beyond the overwhelming headache her stomach felt cramped and queasy, she felt weak, and she really had to pee. As the time ticked by the pressure in her bladder began to rival the pressure in her head. If she didn't find the energy to move soon she was going to wet the bed.

Finally she made the decision to get up and relieve herself. Slowly she opened her eyes and was confronted by a dimly lit ceiling. Slowly she sat up and clumsily slid down the ladder to the ground. The she slowly shuffled off to the bathroom like an old woman. She emptied her over-flowing bladder and brushed her scummy feeling teeth. Kitty then realized that she was very thirsty and drank several cups of water after downing a couple aspirin tablets. Next she began the arduous task of shuffling back to bed. She stumbled up the ladder and collapsed onto the cushy mattress. Exhaustion swiftly overcame her and she slipped into blessed unconsciousness within seconds.

* * *

Sometime later Kitty found herself awake again. Her headache had almost completely vanished, leaving only a faint, dull throbbing behind. She still felt faintly weak and queasy, but it was far more tolerable than before. She didn't feel one hundred percent yet so she decided to relax until she felt recovered. For some indeterminate stretch of time her buzzing brain was a complete blank. She thought of nothing and stared blankly up at the ceiling. The lights were still off leaving the room dark and quiet. The door was closed muffling the sounds of the TV. The overall effect of the quiet dark bedroom was a cocoon of soothing calm. But something began to bother her as she gazed silently up at the ceiling. _Ceiling?_

She shouldn't be able to see the ceiling from her bed. What she was supposed to see was the bottom of the top bunk. This wasn't her bed. Her bed had lilac sheets; this bed had some dark colored sheets. Her bed had two pillows, this bed had only one. Her bed smelled like her shampoo and body lotion, this bed did not. The scent that she detected was definitely masculine, pleasant, and vaguely familiar. She knew instantly that this wasn't Lance's bed. He always stunk of cigarette smoke and various club smells. And she knew that this wasn't Logan's bed either. For one thing he didn't have a bunk bed, and for another he always smelled like exhaust fumes, cigar smoke, and beer. Since the scent was familiar that left only one person. This was Kurt's bed.

Now the question was how on earth she had ended up in Kurt's bed. No matter how hard she tried to remember the events that led up to her present location all she came up with was a blank. She could recall waking up earlier in the day and she could remember most of the previous day, but there was a huge gap where her experience at the Blue Lotus was supposed to be. All she had of that time period were emotions and vague impressions. What had happened to make her forget? To this question she had no answer. Stiffly she sat up and massaged her temples in a futile attempt to stimulate brain activity. Somehow she had to remember what she did. Kitty took a deep breath and started over from the beginning.

She clearly remembered the fact that Amanda wasn't able to make it on account of visiting relatives. She left Kurt with the usual promise and hoped that she would remember it later. She had no desire to have a repeat of his panic attack. Then she hooked up with Lance and spent a few hours enjoying his company. Kitty blushed and smiled fondly at the memory of their time together. He was such a sweet guy. Sometimes he acted overly macho or immature, but for him she could easily over-look that. Last night he'd snuck up on her and scared her, but he'd been thoughtful enough to open her drink for her. Kitty's happiness suddenly turned to sharp brittle ice. She hadn't seen him open her can and he claimed that it was he, not some stranger, who had opened it. He brought it to the table already open, which meant he had time to put something in it without her knowledge. Now she understood her memory gap. _Lance had spiked her drink._

"But why?" She whispered to herself in a trembling voice. Why had he done that? Why had he betrayed her trust like that? Why would he? Numb with horror and confusion she laid back down and rolled over burying her face into Kurt's pillow. The familiar scent of Kurt's fur flooded her sense with every breath and it slowly tamed the chaos of her whirling mind. Kurt was safe, trustworthy, and innocent. He would never hurt her; she was part of his team. He would never betray her; it went completely against all his military training. And he was the most innocent, naïve person she knew. While he was chronologically and biologically seventeen years old, emotionally he seemed to be frozen at age eight. He didn't act all big, bad, and macho like most boys his age that she knew, he didn't drink and he didn't chase after girls. In fact, she doubted that he had a complete understanding of sex or had any desire to have it with anyone of any gender.

Kitty paused her thoughts and mentally changed direction. Guys usually are into sex, they think about it and try to have it all the time. Lance, by virtue of his XY chromosomes, also had this drive and he made no secret of its existence. He constantly teased her for being a virgin and repeatedly offered to cure her of that particular condition. And other times he would joke around with her about having sex. Most of the time he'd been definitely joking around, but there were a few instances where he seemed to be serious. She always brushed him off and turned him down, she wanted to wait for the right guy and she hadn't been 100 sure that Lance was it. Now she was 100 sure that he wasn't. He'd spiked her drink to loosen her up and make her forget. _He almost raped me. _That thought chilled her to her core and she burrowed deep under the covers. She didn't want to get out of bed ever again.

* * *

Kurt glanced away from the television screen towards the bedroom door for the nth time. It was well past noon and Kitty had yet to emerge awake and alert. Early in the morning he'd seen her shuffle into the bathroom then back to bed in a sleepy fog. But that was hours ago, how much longer could she sleep? He looked back to the TV and for the nth time seriously debated whether or not he should go and check on her. And again for the nth time he failed to come to a decision so he stayed put and worried some more. But at exactly 2:00 PM, he couldn't take it anymore.

He stood up and marched over to the bedroom that he shared with Kitty. He managed to get his hand around the doorknob before he froze up. What did he think he was doing? She was probably fine and sleeping off her hangover. She was a big girl and cold take care of herself. She didn't need him popping in and bothering her. His courage failed him and he began to back away from the door. But if he didn't check on her he would be driven mad by curiosity and worry. This was the exact same debate he ran through every five minutes and it was starting to really give him a headache. Kurt was sick of thinking about this same endless argument over and over so he darted into the room before he thought anymore about it.

The room was dark and quiet just as Kurt expected it to be. What didn't expect was to see Kitty's arm dangling over the edge of his bed. What was she still doing up there? She'd already woken up once to visit the bathroom so she should be in her own bed now. He stood there and stared at her pale hand as he struggled to understand this odd situation. Why had she climbed back up into his bed? Why waste the energy climbing the ladder when her own bed was at ground level? He simply couldn't understand, couldn't figure it out. Kurt crept closer to Kitty's dangling limb and poked it experimentally with one finger. There was no reaction so he supposed that meant that she was still asleep. Now what was he supposed to do?

"Kitty?" Kurt asked softly.

"Go away." Came the muffled response. Kurt flinched, apparently she wasn't asleep.

"Kitty, please get out of my bed." He begged nervously.

"Go away." She repeated.

"Will you get out of my bed if I do?" He asked.

"Go away." She growled. Kurt frowned, this wasn't right, something was wrong.

"_Nein,_ not until you get up." Kurt replied defiantly.

"Go. Away." She snapped.

"No, not until you get up." He declared tugging on her hand. Kitty phased her hand out of his grip and pulled it under the covers.

"Go. Away." She bit out. Kurt scampered up the ladder and crouched on an open patch of mattress. He grabbed the bed sheets and pulled them back to reveal Kitty's face.

"If you want me to go away you'll have to make me." Kurt replied calmly. She glared up at him with slitted eyes and growled.

"Leave me alone." She hissed.

"Get up on get on with the day and I will." He promised.

"No, go away." She growled furiously.

"Make me." He challenged nearly nose to nose with her now. She glared at him for a few minutes in silence before all the fight in her melted away.

"Please go away." She whispered.

"No." He said firmly. "It's well past noon; you can't spend all day in my bed."

"I'll get up later." She mumbled.

"No, you've been in bed long enough. Get up and do something." Kurt replied.

"Do what?" Kitty muttered.

"Keep me company." He suggested helpfully. Kitty gave him a blank look. "Please?" He begged.

"Why do you need company?" She asked.

"Because I get lonely." He answered.

"You never got lonely before." Kitty grumbled rolling away from him.

"Well I do now." He corrected.

"That's not a good enough reason for me. I want to sleep some more so go away." Kitty sighed tiredly.

"Can't you at least get in your own bed?" Kurt asked in an almost whine.

Kitty didn't answer; she just closed her eyes and feigned sleep. Kurt sighed in exasperation and ran one tri-dactyl hand through his hair. She refused to give up his bed, get on with day, and she wouldn't say why or what was wrong. It made him mad, but it worried him more. For the moment he decided to give up convincing Kitty to get out of his bed and take a nap. He squeezed himself between the wall and Kitty's back and began to relax. However, his actions made Kitty tense up in surprise. Kurt smiled at the irony of the situation.

Usually when Kitty sat near him he would be the one to tense up, but now the tables had turned. He snuggled closer to her back to see what she'd do about it. Suddenly it felt like he'd been hit by a mild electric shock. It wasn't painful, but it certainly got his attention. The odd sensation was brief and once it passed Kurt realized that Kitty was gone. He peered over the edge of his bed to find that Kitty was now curled up on her own bed.

"Thank you for giving my bed back to me." Kurt chirped.

"You're welcome." She muttered.

Kurt kept watching her hanging haphazardly half off his bed. He felt an odd sort of pride at his small victory. Ever since his first week here in America Kitty had bossed him around and always manipulated him into doing things her way. He had never been able to resist her, or get her to do something that he wanted. But his pride was tempered by a growing sense of worry. Kitty had abandoned his bed, but she wasn't up and about, she was simply in her own bed now. His tail swished from side to side as he pondered what to do about this. Should he try the same procedure as he had before? Or should he try something different this time? Kurt considered this dilemma long and hard as he studied Kitty pretending to be asleep. Then he spotted her bare feet and an odd little idea appeared in his head.

He slunk down silently from the top bunk and stealthily positioned himself at the end of her bed. He sat facing the door with his shoulder touching the footboard and he began to concentrate. He sent his devil tail slithering up onto the mattress twitching blindly around for its target. When the spaded tip brushed against a bare toe a purely evil, mischievous grin appeared on Kurt's face. After the first contact he commanded his tail to lightly brush against Kitty's bare feet. For a while there was no obvious reaction, but he was patient. It might take time' but no one had ever been able to hold out against his tickling. All he had to do was find the right spot. The sensitive tip of his tail gently traced the lines in the soles of her feet and he was beginning to feel her tremble against suppressed laughter. Finally it became too much for her and exploded into uncontrollable giggles.

"Kurt stop!" She wheezed after a few minutes.

"Not until you promise me something." Kurt replied, coiling his tail around her ankle so that he wouldn't lose contact with her foot.

"Please?" She gasped between giggles.

"Promise to get up and get on with the day." He commanded.

"Stop tickling!" She squealed.

"Not until you promise." He replied firmly.

"Fine, I promise!" She squeaked breathlessly.

"Good." He replied, released her ankle, retracted his tail, and ended the tickling. Kitty continued giggling and gasping for a few more minutes before growing quiet.

"You are evil." She growled tiredly and rolled out of her bed.

She strode over to her dresser and grabbed several articles of clothing before heading to the bathroom. Kurt rose and padded away from the foot of her bed and traveled back to the TV. He settled himself down on the couch and patiently waited for Kitty to finish showering. He aimlessly channel-surfed while he gloated. Victory was his! Not only had he pried her out of his bed, he'd managed to get her out of her own bed. He had turned the tables on her and succeeded. This time he'd bent her to his will. This time he'd been the one to wake her up. He couldn't help but grin.

"What are you smiling about?" Kitty grumbled, startling him.

Normally Kitty took over an hour in the bathroom when she showered. As far as he could tell, she spent half the time washing and the other half she used to dress, dry her hair, and apply make-up. This time she'd barely been gone fifteen minutes and he hadn't heard the hair-dryer running so he hadn't expected her back. His grin vanished and he nervously turned left to face the grumpy Kitty. She was dressed in gray sweatpants and a baggy black T-shirt. Her hair was still wet and it hung loose on her shoulders and back. She was leaning against the wall, looking angry, and nibbling on a strawberry pop tart. Kurt couldn't stop staring.

"What are you staring at?" She growled darkly.

"Your hair." He replied quickly looking away.

"What about my hair?" She demanded marching over to the couch.

"It's not tied up." He answered.

"So?" She asked looking a bit confused.

"I've never seen it down before." He replied.

"Whatever." She sighed giving him a weird look.

Kitty shook her head and laid down on the couch. She settled on her side facing the TV with her head resting in his lap. With minimal effort she snatched the remote from his blue-furred tri-dactyl hand and took over channel-surfing while still munching on her pop tart. Kurt once again found himself staring. This day was turning out to be completely backwards. She was doing to him what he had planned to do to her. With a resigned sigh he redirected his attention to the flickering TV screen. For nearly an hour they sat that way in silence with only the television set making any sound. Kurt rested one arm on the couch and his opposite hand lightly gripped Kitty's shoulder. His tail managed to coil snake-like around her waist and since she made no complaint about it he left it there.

"Did I do anything stupid last night?" Kitty finally asked in a quiet voice.

"You got drunk." He replied bluntly.

"I know that much, but what did I _do_?" She grumbled.

"Well, you danced like a crazy person and threw a temper tantrum when I made you leave. You got sick a few times and then crawled into bed with me." Kurt sighed.

"I got in bed with you?" Kitty squeaked.

"_Ja._" He mumbled.

"I stole your bed from you all night?" She whispered.

"And used me as a teddy bear." He snorted.

"I'm sorry." She managed after a minute.

"Don't worry about it." He murmured soothingly. "Just don't do it again."

"Oh I won't, I definitely won't." She groaned.

"Good." Kurt muttered, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Kitty didn't reply and the conversation died. Kurt turned back to the TV to ponder things. Kitty apparently had little or no memory of what she did while inebriated. Perhaps that was why she was so upset. She didn't know what she did and didn't do and that was dangerous, not to mention frightening. She could've leaked sensitive, secret information without realizing or remembering it. If the wrong people heard the wrong things they could get in serious trouble. This trouble could lead to mission failure and that was something he didn't want to ever think about, let alone experience. The very thought of what might happen to him if he was sent back to Germany a failure sent shivers racing down his spine.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Kitty asked. Kurt looked down to see her looking up at him with concern. He must've shaken enough for her to notice.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just some bad thoughts."

"Bad thoughts?" She murmured curiously.

"About failing." He sighed nervously.

"Oh," Kitty mumbled. "I see." She fell silent for a while and it was starting to make his tail tip twitch. "So were you having fun last night before you found me being a drunken idiot?" She asked.

"No, of course not. Your friend Amanda found me and bothered me all night." He grumbled.

"Amanda? Amanda Sefton?" Kitty asked in surprise, rolling over and sitting upright.

"_Ja._" He replied slowly.

"She called me and said that she wasn't going to make it!" Kitty protested.

"She told me that her relatives that were supposed to come didn't show up so she came to the club." Kurt explained. Kitty stared at him for a moment, blinked, then curled up against him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"She saw me drunk didn't she." Kitty sighed, her tone made it a statement rather than a question.

"Yes she did." He confirmed. His arm slid around her shoulders and his tail once again found its way around her waist.

"Great, just great." She muttered.

"It could be worse." Kurt replied.

"I suppose so." She sighed heavily. "I could've said something stupid, like that you're cute." She snorted. Kurt stiffened.

"But…" He whimpered.

"Wait, I said that to you didn't I." She squeaked, pulling back to look him in the eye. Kurt refused to look at her, but he nodded. "Oh geeze, I'm sorry." She whimpered.

Kurt removed his arm and tail from Kitty's person and curled up, hugging his knees to his chest. Kitty went silent and turned back to the TV, highly embarrassed at her mistake. At the edge of his vision he watched Kitty nervously glance at him from time to time, but she never said a word to him. It was almost like they had been warped back to the beginning of the mission when they weren't on speaking terms. That bothered him, and as time went on his discomfort at that thought grew. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, she'd simply spoken without thinking. She'd had a rough night, morning, and afternoon. He could cut her some slack this time. So after a few hours and some more internal debate, he uncurled and turned to face her. However, Kitty was no longer there.

A quick glance at the VCR proved that it was almost time to leave again for the Blue Lotus. Kurt sighed wearily and flopped over face-first onto the lump couch. He'd finally made up his mind to forgive her and she goes off to pretty herself up. After grumbling some colorful German curses into the worn out cushions he picked himself up and made his own simple preparations. He snagged his coat and ran his brush through his hair before returning to the TV. Kitty was probably going to take a good hour or so primping and debating over several different outfits before she would feel ready. _She doesn't need to worry so much over her appearance. She looks pretty enough just the way she is._


	22. Lance's Brotherhood

**Chapter 21**

**Lance's Brotherhood**

The air outside was absolutely freezing, but Kitty didn't really notice. She was so cold inside that the biting cold winds outside felt downright balmy. Every step she took brought her closer to the Blue Lotus, the last place on earth she wanted to be. That was the place where Lance worked and he was the one who had spiked her drink. She'd trusted him almost completely and he had drugged her with the intent to rape her. Just thinking about it made her shiver violently. Oh how she wished that Logan had given them something else to do or some other place to go. She gladly would do just about anything to avoid Lance now.

Kitty squeaked in surprise at the sudden sensation of something soft and warm gripping her hand. She looked down to see Kurt's hologram-cloaked hand tentatively holding hers. Her eye's traveled up his arm to settle on his face. While his faint blush made her think of a young schoolboy with a crush, the look of deep concern in his eyes gave her the impression of a far more mature young man. Suddenly feeling inexplicably shy, she nervously returned his grip with a weak, wavering smile. He smiled faintly back and reduced the distance between them from the usual half-foot to barely more than an inch. Kitty struggled to contain her shock at yet another uncharacteristic action from her German companion.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my fuzzy elf?" Kitty demanded mock-seriously.

"_Was?_" He asked in confusion.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my fuzzy elf?" She asked again more slowly, fighting back a smile.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, obviously lost. The look he gave her as he spoke was too much for her to bear and her serious expression dissolved in a fit of giggles. "What's so funny?" He demanded, not sure what to make of her reaction.

"I was just teasing and you thought that I was being serious!" She laughed.

"Oh," he muttered, looking thoughtful. Then he frowned. "I don't get it."

"Really?" Kitty asked. He nodded. "Well, when I said, 'who are you and what have you done with my fuzzy elf?' I was saying that you aren't acting like you usually do." She explained.

"I'm not acting like I usually do?" He repeated, not knowing what she was referring to.

"Well, there was that whole weird episode from earlier when you pried me out of bed. And now you're willingly holding my hand and walking almost shoulder to shoulder with me. Since when do you do any of that?" Kitty questioned.

Kurt opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and stopped walking. Since her hand was still linked with his, she also came to a stop. He stared at their joined hands as if he didn't believe it was real. Then he slowly brought his wide-eyed gaze up to her face. He looked into her eyes for a moment before quickly turning to stare at the icy sidewalk, blushing fiercely and swallowing hard. Kitty sighed. _Why did I have to point that out? Now he's falling apart on me._ She did notice that he hadn't let go of her hand yet, which she decided to take as a good sign. After a few minutes, he seemed to regain his composure enough to face her again.

"Does it bother you? Me holding your hand, I mean." He asked nervously.

"No," Kitty replied.

He gave her a weak, wavering grin after a moment and they resumed walking. Kitty let him lead, following one step behind and still holding his hand. She didn't really have anything else to say so the walk was very quiet. The silence didn't bother her but it seemed to bug Kurt. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him grow increasingly antsy, glancing at her from time to time. Before she could come up with something that would calm him down, the Blue Lotus club came into view and her heart sank.

Nervously she moved closer to him and slowed her pace so that she was walking almost directly behind him. He looked very confused, but said nothing. When they reached the entrance Kitty had to move to the front to pay, but she fell behind again as soon as they entered. The loud music and flashing lights that she once found exciting, now were threatening. Then Kurt abruptly let go of her hand and vanished into the crowd, leaving her to deal with her fears alone. She shivered and fought the rising urge to phase through the floor. _I wanna go home…_

* * *

The instant Kurt entered the club he let go of Kitty's hand and went his own way. He quickly but carefully picked his way to his customary shadowy booth and took his seat. As he settled himself in for a long, boring, stressful wait, he gazed out at the crowd and began to ponder this very strange day. First, Kitty had gotten drunk and spent the previous night in his bed with him. Second, she refused to get up and that forced him to take rather extreme action. And third, well, she just wasn't herself. Just as he was about to do a little Venn diagram in his head to compare the difference in her behavior between today and yesterday, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and found a most unexpected person sitting across the table from him.

"Kitty?" He mumbled in disbelief.

"Did you say something?" Kitty asked loudly so that she could be heard over the loud music.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, speaking louder this time.

"I just feel like it." She replied with a shrug.

Kurt frowned at this answer. She loved to go and mingle with the other club patrons. He knew that she had found many friendly and interesting acquaintances here and it was very unusual for her to skip talking with any of them. When he said nothing else to her, she looked out at the partying crowd. He watched her watch the other people and carefully noted her reactions to them. When the drinkers, dancers, and druggies kept their distance, she seemed fine, but when someone strayed too close, she looked upset, almost panicky. _Was I like this when I first came here? _He found himself wondering as he watched her. His frown deepened at that thought and he stood up. He slipped around the end of the table and reseated himself next to Kitty. Now his body formed a buffer between her and the club crowd. At her expression of confused surprise, he managed to change his frown into a weak smile.

"Why did you move?" Kitty asked.

"Why not?" He countered.

She gave him an odd look for a moment before shrugging. Kurt was relieved that she didn't press for a better answer and he allowed himself to relax. Then, just as he decided to look away, Kitty decided to make a move. She scooted right up next to him, wrapped her arms around his arm, and rested her head against his shoulder. Fortunately, he wasn't drinking or eating anything, otherwise he would've choked on it. However, once he recovered from his shock, he stealthily slipped his tail around her waist. Normally he would never do such a thing in public, but this was a special exception. The lighting inside the club was terrible so that, unless someone was to look very closely, they'd never see his tail, and besides, it was underneath the table. When Kitty made no protest concerning his tail, Kurt allowed himself to think that this night wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey!" A new voice called. Kurt looked up to find a grinning Amanda Sefton standing next to him. "Is this seat taken?" She asked, indicating the same bench seat that he and Kitty were sitting on. Since these seats were designed for no more than two people, Kurt shook his head no. Amanda frowned before moving to the seat across the table. He poked Kitty with his tail to make her aware of her friend's arrival since last time he looked she seemed to be trying to take a nap.

"Amanda?" Kitty wondered dazedly as the dark-skinned girl took a seat.

"Kitty?" Amanda asked, equally confused at Kitty's presence as Kitty was about Amanda's. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question." Kitty replied tightly.

"Well I asked first." Amanda insisted stubbornly. Kurt felt his eyebrows rising. _I thought they were friends. Why are they so tense?_

"Fine, I'm here because I feel like it. Now your turn." Kitty replied, sounding quite childish.

"And I'm here to talk to him." Amanda replied stiffly, indicating Kurt with a nod. "Now tell me, why aren't you over with Lance? I heard that he's looking for you."

"None of your beeswax!" Kitty snapped; her voice oddly strained. Kurt tightened his tail's grip on her waist slightly in an attempt to calm Kitty a bit. She didn't seem to notice.

"What's with all the hostility?" Amanda asked, genuinely confused. "Are you embarrassed about last night's drunken escapade?"

"Well, yeah." Kitty mumbled barely loud enough to be heard over the music.

Kurt wasn't totally convinced that embarrassment was the sole reason for her odd behavior, but he let it go. After a few more tense words, the two girls entered into friendly conversation and they seemed to forget that he was still there. However, Kitty now clung closer to him somehow, as if to say that he belonged to her. Though he knew that the idea should bother him, when he thought about it he found that he really didn't mind at all. In fact, he actually found it a very attractive thought and his imagination ran off with it. He was so absorbed in his rapidly forming fantasy that he completely missed one particular man emerge from the crowd and stalk over to their table.

The next thing that he was aware of was a solid yank on the back of his coat collar. Before he was quite sure what was happening he found himself out of his seat, detached from Kitty, on his back, and sliding across the floor. Kurt managed to regain his feet before anyone decided to step on him. He looked around for a minute, disoriented by his sudden, unexpected change of location. Then he spotted his table. Kitty and Amanda were still sitting there, but where he'd been another man had taken his place. Kurt ground his teeth as he marched back to the table, but he halted when he was close enough to hear what was being said.

"Hey Pretty-Kitty! Whatcha doin' all the way over here?" The man, who Kurt now identified as Lance, asked.

"I _was _enjoying myself." Kitty replied, her tone surprisingly harsh.

"Enjoying yourself? How could you have any fun in this little boring corner? Come on, let's go." Lance commanded as he attempted to drag Kitty of somewhere.

"Who said I was going to move? Let go of me!" Kitty snapped, jerking free of Lance's hand.

"What's with you? You were totally fine with me last night." Lance whined pleadingly.

"That was last night." Kitty responded tartly.

"What's this? Are we forgetting the last two months?" Lance demanded, his voice suddenly cold.

"Yes," Kitty declared. Even though Kurt couldn't really see Lance's face from where he was standing, he knew that the man's expression wasn't pleasant.

"Well this is sudden. Why don't we discuss this somewhere more private?" Lance growled in a tone that left no room for argument.

He took her by the wrist and dragged her up before she could offer any protest. Amanda was left sitting and looked quite stunned. As Lance tried to tow Kitty off she broke free long enough to whisper some assurances in Kurt's ear. She'd be alright, she'd take care of things, she claimed. Don't follow, everything will work out fine, she promised. Then Lance recaptured her and they vanished into the crowd. Kurt found himself standing alone, scanning the crowd, and still slightly dazed by the sudden turn of events. Far across the room, he spied the pair slipping through a dark doorway and he frowned. _I don't like this at all…_

* * *

Kitty really didn't like where things were going. Lance had shown up out of nowhere, got mad, and was dragging her off to God-only-knows-where. They'd left the main room of the club and entered a narrow maze of back hallways. Lance led her past room after room and he showed no signs of stopping. The further they went, the more nervous she became. But before she felt the need to force him to talk right there, he finally chose one door and dragged her through it. The door led to a dark alley directly behind the club. It was dark, cold, and totally empty.

"Now, let's go trough this again." Lance growled, firmly shutting the door behind them.

"What is there to go through?" Kitty demanded, fighting back her rising anxiety.

"Just what your problem is for one thing." Lance snapped.

"You know perfectly well what my problem is! You spiked my drink last night!" She hissed acidly.

"Oh grow up! It didn't hurt you any." Lance groaned.

"I made a total fool of myself!" She protested.

"So?" He grumbled, no impressed in the least by her exclamation.

"You are so lucky that nothing bad happened to me because of that." She snapped back. "Otherwise you'd have had you ass kicked already."

"Sure, whatever." He smirked. Kitty glared furiously at him.

"I trusted you and you betrayed me. Consider us through. End of story." She replied stiffly. Kitty turned to leave, but Lance grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her away from the door and clear across the alley.

"I didn't say that you could leave yet." He said in a low, cold voice.

"Let me pass!" She snapped. She tried to walk past him, but he shifted his position to mirror hers, keeping her trapped. A good minute of this was more than enough to send her to a desperate course of action. With a snarl of frustration, she phased right through him and marched towards the door.

"You're a Mutant?" He asked, sounding stunned.

"Yes," she replied as she reached the door.

"So am I!" He exclaimed, freezing her in her tracks. That was not one of the many reactions that she had expected to hear. Then to prove his claim, she supposed, the ground began to tremble strongly enough to make her stagger.

"And this is supposed to make me stay?" She asked once the ground settled down.

"Well yeah, now's when I get to give you 'The Offer'." Lance replied, arrogantly swaggering over to where she stood.

"Offer? What offer?" Kitty asked suspiciously.

"The offer to join." He answered, draping one arm around her shoulders. Kitty tried to shake him off, but he squeezed her tighter.

"Join what?" She asked uneasily.

"Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, of course." Lance replied.

"No," Kitty said flatly.

"But, I didn't even explain it yet!" He complained.

"You don't have to, I already know what it is." She replied, her voice tight and sharp.

"Well then why won't you join?" Lance wondered.

"Because it goes against my morals and beliefs." She growled, trying to squirm loose from Lance's arm.

"Is striving for the Mutant future immoral?" He demanded.

"The way that you 'strive' for it is." She retorted sharply.

"Let's see if I can't change your mind." He growled threateningly.

Without warning, Lance shifted his grip on her shoulders to painfully squeeze the back of her neck. As he started to drag her down the alley, she struggled and squirmed, trying to focus enough to phase. Lance pinched tighter and she shrieked in pain. Annoyed by her screaming and probably worried about it drawing the attention of others, he slammed her against a brick wall and slapped her across the face. Kitty only screamed louder and her panic spiraled out of control, making it impossible to phase away. This only made him angrier and he hit her harder. She whimpered when she tasted blood and she was unable to determine whether it came from her lip or her nose.

What happened after that was difficult for her to say. A shadow, a living piece of blackness, abruptly detached itself from the opposite alley wall and launched itself at Lance. It lifted her attacker by the back of his jacket and tossed him aside like a broken toy. There was a flash of yellow within the darkness and the shadow flew at Lance again. She heard sounds of a struggle, grunts punches, and what sounded like the crack of a whip. Then the shadow threw Lance further down the alley and came back for her.

It swept toward her, a silent rush of air with golden embers for eyes. It surrounded her before she could gather the breath to scream. The darkness embraced her, blocking the feeble light of the alley from her sight. Then the world fled from her. Her stomach churned as she went flying through the somewhere. A tiny bit of her brain recognized the motion as teleportation, but that information didn't quite make it to the rest of her. The motion stopped as quickly as it began and Kitty found herself looking into a pair of deeply concerned yellow eyes. Finally, the fear and reaction to the events swamped her and all she could do was cry.


	23. It's Over?

**Chapter 22**

**Lt's Over?**

Kurt lay limply on the run down sofa and numbly watched the early news. Long ago, back in the lovely O'Hare airport, he'd sworn to himself to never stay up all night long again. Now he had gone against that personal oath and hadn't slept a wink since yesterday. On the TV screen, the news anchor droned on about the weather forecast for a while, before transitioning into a sports report. With a yawn, he flipped over onto his other side so that he faced the back of the couch instead of the television. He hated the news, he didn't even know why he'd turned it on in the first place.

As his eyes studied the faded pattern on the couch pillows, His mind drifted back to the events that led to his sleepless night…

_When Kitty vanished from his sight, he ignored Amanda's nervous invitation for him to stay and set off after them. He pushed his way through the crowd, for once not caring if he accidentally brushed a furry part of himself against the bare skin of a stranger. The flashing lights tried to blind him and the loud music tried to deafen him, but he pressed on without thinking twice about it. But even with his speedy trek towards the door, he still had lost all sight of them by the time he reached it._

_Moving on a sort of pseudo-autopilot, he slipped into the hallway, made sure no one was watching, and flicked off his hologram. These back hallways were poorly lighted, with the bulbs mounted on the walls instead of on the ceiling. Hanging from the ceiling was a mess of pipes that had no coverings and plenty of space all around. This made it much simpler for the maintenance people to do their jobs, but it also gave him the perfect way to travel unseen._

_A hop, some twisting and squirming, and he found his way into the dark recess between the hanging pipes and the actual ceiling. Some small secondary mutation linked to his radical appearance made it possible for him to become almost totally invisible when he was in deep shadow. The only thing that even those with the sharpest eyes could ever see when he was hidden this way, was his eerie yellow eyes floating in a pool of blackness. So long as he made no noise, no one would ever see him._

_He raced along the pipes down every hallway, doubling back when he hit dead-ends, until he caught up with the pair. It was very lucky for him that he located them when he did. Just as he fell in behind them, they went through a door that led outside. He darted between the pipes and just barely managed to scramble over the top of the doorway as the door was closing. He missed having his tail pinched by barely a quarter of a second._

_The Nightcrawler clambered up the alley wall and perched on a fire escape he found. From this vantage point, he was invisible to the pair below but he could still hear what they said quite clearly. He listened in complete silence as they exchanged their words, making careful note of anything that seemed important. The information that Lance was also a Mutant was definitely something to take into consideration, as was what his power seemed to be. However, the mention of this 'Brotherhood' meant nothing to him, though Kitty appeared to be greatly bothered by it._

_He watched with swiftly rising concern as the situation went from bad to worse. His heart just about stopped when Lance began to drag her away. The shadowed demon waited nervously, giving Kitty a chance to free and take care of things herself. She was supposed to be able to handle things all by herself and he had to let her try. When she started screaming his fur stood on end and when Lance hit her the first time he bristled. But when Lance drew her blood, it was the last straw._

_Back when he was in training at the Facility, fighting meant very little to him. He did it simple because he had no choice. He never liked or looked forward to fight training, but he didn't hate or dread it either. It was just something that he had to do, an emotionless, meaningless task. But now it was different. Now he was angry, he wanted to fight, he wanted to cause another pain. Only his strict conditioning kept him from leaping off the wall and roaring like a wild beast before savagely killing the lousy bastard._

_Instead, he rushed down the wall like a deadly shadow. He lunged at Lance's back and tore him roughly away from his victim. When Lance landed a few yards away on the cold pavement, Nightcrawler went after him again. This time he tackled the club bouncer and began pounding him into the ground. When the man tried to fight back, he jumped back, hit him with a few more blows, and finished things with a whip-crack of his tail to Lance's face. This last hit sent the bloodied man crumpling to the ground out cold. _

_With Lance neutralized, he dashed back for Kitty. The sounds of screaming and struggle would likely have gained the attention of outsiders and he had no desire to deal with them. He swept the stunned bloody girl into his arm and teleported back to the apartment. They rematerialized in the living room area and he finally took the time to really look at her. And then she suddenly broke down into hysterical tears._

_Kurt found himself at a total loss as to what he was supposed to do. Feeling terribly awkward, he nervously hugged her to his chest, vainly trying to soothe her tears away. His clumsy effort did nothing to stem the tide of salty tears that soaked his shirt along with blood that continued to leak from her nose. Only time and exhaustion ended her sobs and then he'd tried to clean her up a bit before putting her to bed. Then he flopped down on the couch to recover his wits…_

…And he was still there.

Shaking his head to clear the slowly forming cobwebs, he sat up with the intention of making himself some breakfast. He stumbled into the tiny kitchen and went for the usual, a pair of frozen waffles toasted in the toaster and a glass of fruit juice. He numbly devoured his food and drank his juice without really tasting it. His mind was more troubled with what he'd done and how he felt about.

He'd never hit anyone without being told to do it. He needed permission from a superior to engage in any violent, or potentially violent, course of action. In the past, he'd sometimes threatened, hinted at, or implied violence, but those were empty bluffs. He would never have gone through with those bluffs unless he was given the permission to do so. This time, he'd done it all on his own. He looked for no permission, he hadn't even thought about getting any. It was a big and terrible step for him.

And then there were his feelings concerning the fight. His tail lashed jerkily as he recalled the emotions that had filled him at the time. He'd been enraged beyond description at Lance's cruel treatment of a girl who had adored him the previous day. He'd been infuriated by the man's arrogance and incensed by his thoughtless resort to violence. And worst of all, the sight and scent of blood, her blood, had sparked something primal in him. If he'd had the time, he would've beaten Lance much worse, and enjoyed every strike.

With a shudder of revulsion at his near ferality, he finished off his breakfast and took care of his used dishes. It was about then that he realized that he was still wearing that bloodstained shirt. Feeling vaguely ill at the sight of the dried blood, he quickly peeled it off, balled it up, and tossed it in the trash. He had no particular attachment to it and didn't care to take the effort needed to salvage it. Now shirtless, he made his way back to the couch, wrapping himself up in the blanket that lay in a heap on the floor. He flopped back down on the couch and went back to half-watching the TV.

_I hope she'll be okay..._

* * *

Kitty felt like crap. She couldn't decide which morning was worse, yesterday or today. Yesterday she'd been suffering a hangover; today it was a beating. As far as she could tell, the emotional trauma was about equal, the only thing she was trying to decide was what physically hurt more.

She lightly traced the few bruises she picked up overnight. There were a few on her face from being smacked and twice as many on her back from being slammed into the wall. After checking her lips, she decided that it had been her nose that had been doing all the bleeding. Stiffly she sat up to discover that she was in bed. Kitty frowned, she didn't remember getting in bed. In fact, she didn't remember much of anything once she reappeared back in the apartment.

With a shrug and a sigh, she gathered up a change of clothes and headed off to take a shower. Kurt was nowhere in sight, but the sounds of silverware scraping against a plate told her that he was in the kitchen eating breakfast. On quiet feet, she crept into the bathroom and gratefully climbed into a steamy hot shower. She would've liked to spend all day in there just letting the warm water pour over her body, but if she did Kurt would eventually come looking for her. The thought of what he might do when he stumbled across her in the shower made her giggle a bit.

After a bit longer, she turned off the water, dried off, and dressed herself. Kitty dried her hair and put it up in its customary ponytail before really taking a good look in the mirror. She winced at the actual sight of the bruises and dug up her concealer to at least reduce, if not complete hide, the damage. It took longer than she thought it would, but she made herself presentable. She made a quick stop in the kitchen for some breakfast before seeking Kurt out.

For once she was glad that the apartment was so small. It took less than two seconds for her to find the boy she sought. He was curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, and half-asleep. She air-walked (one of her favorite phasing tricks) over and sat beside him without saying a word or giving any sort of warning. Perhaps she was unusually stealthy today, or maybe he was just really tired, but whatever the reason, it took him over five minutes to realize that she was there.

"Kitty?" He asked slowly as if he didn't quite believe that she was really sitting there.

"Yes?" She asked in reply.

"When did you get up?" He mumbled.

"Maybe an hour ago, I didn't really check the time." She answered, trying to get under the blanket with him. This seemed to bring him to full wakefulness and he seemed very nervous.

"Did you get any breakfast?" He asked.

"Yep, now stop hogging the blanket." She commanded. He mutely shook his head. "Kurt, be a good boy and share." He tried to hold out, but a few more seconds of serious staring and he caved. "Thank you!" She chirped sweetly, snuggling up close to him so she could get maximum blanket coverage. This close cuddling also led her to the source Kurt's nervous embarrassment, he was clearly missing a shirt. And this knowledge led to her giggling.

"W-what's so funny?" He demanded.

"You, you're so silly!" She giggled.

"Hey," he mumbled, sounding slightly insulted.

"It's not a crime for guys to go around without a shirt on. Well, except for in restaurants, they get a little mad if you want food but don't have a shirt on when you order." Kitty snickered.

"So?" Kurt challenged childishly. Kitty only sighed and shook her head. _He's so very silly sometimes._

"Hey, did you take a shower yet?" She asked after thinking for a little while.

"Uh, no." He replied.

"Well then, go do it." She ordered, releasing her grip on him and poking him in the side to hurry him on his way.

"Okay," he sighed and nervously scampered off.

Kitty lounged on the couch, taking sole possession of the blanket and Kurt's leftover body heat. As the news transitioned into a daytime talk show, she began to think. Was Kurt ashamed of his appearance? It certainly seemed that way when he flipped out when she caught him lacking in the shirt department. Or maybe he was just shy. In the end, Kitty decided that the reason for his behavior didn't really matter that much.

What did matter, was that he was a decent guy. Sure, he had a metric ton of quirks and eccentricities, but she'd learned to cope with most, if not all of them. He was cuddly, sweet, and cute in his own little way. And if she could have her way, she'd drag him off to the Institute and ask the Professor if she could keep him. It was a nice thought, but quite impossible. She smiled and started to drift into a nap filled with happy little thoughts.

Kitty was almost asleep when a familiar and dreaded 'SHNIKT' sound reached her ears. In an instant, she was on her feet and skidding towards the bathroom. There she saw Logan holding a terrified Kurt by his throat with a set of adamantium claws dangerously close to some vital organs. Poor Kurt had probably been dragged right out of the bathroom since he was in nothing but a towel. She blinked slowly as her brain tried to make sense of this truly bizarre scene.

"Logan, what are you doing?" She demanded flatly.

"Nothing important." Logan growled.

"Really? Then why have you dragged poor little Kurt out of the bathroom without his clothes?" Kitty asked, walking right up to the Canadian.

"I said that it's nothing." Logan snarled. Kitty frowned and decided to intervene more directly. She grabbed Logan's shoulder and phased him, allowing Kurt the chance to escape unharmed. After Kurt had made a barely decent mad dash into their bedroom and shut the door, she released a very irate Logan.

"Now explain yourself." Kitty commanded before the older Mutant could explode at her.

"I was about to ask you the same question." Logan grumbled. Kitty only crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her answer. "I was finding out how your blood ended up on his shirt." Logan admitted finally.

"And you didn't think to ask me first?" Kitty sighed as her mind raced, trying to figure out what the heck Logan was talking about. Logan grumbled something that she couldn't make out, but said nothing further to her on the subject.

"Start packing your bags Half-Pint." He grunted instead.

"What? Why?" Kitty asked, caught off guard by the rapid and random change of subject.

"I got those last few names I needed. We're done here. He leaves tomorrow afternoon, and you head to your parents the day after." Logan replied, and walked into his own room before Kitty could find her voice to protest.

Trapped in a sort of daze, Kitty wandered into her room phasing through the closed door. Kurt wasn't immediately in sight so she collapsed onto her bed and tried to get her mind in order. So Logan had found the last bits of information that they needed to get this group of criminals taken down. Kitty felt bad that she didn't really contribute anything, all she'd done was have fun and get in trouble with a boy. But her lack of proper participation didn't change the fact that it was over. _It's all over..._

* * *

Kurt cowered under his sheets hugging his pillow to his chest. He remained embarrassed by words. Kitty had seen him practically naked. True, a towel had concealed his important parts, but he'd still felt totally naked under her eyes. And now, even though he was very well covered, the awkward sensation persisted. His face was hot, his chest was tight, his stomach churned, his body trembled, and his tail was tying itself into frantic knots. Basically, he felt awful.

Then it got worse. A hand grabbed the edge of his sheets and yanked them off, leaving him staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes. Now his heart raced inside his constricted chest and his mouth went dry. He felt paralyzed by her gaze and he held his breath so long that he started to feel light-headed. If something didn't happen soon, he was sure that he was going to pass out.

"What were you doing under there?" Kitty asked finally.

"N-n-nothing," he stuttered, his accent so thick he wasn't sure that she could understand him.

"You're still embarrassed over me seeing you in nothing but a towel, aren't you?" Kitty sighed. Kurt could only sit mute and blush. "Well get over it, I didn't see anything important so there's nothing for you to worry about."

"So?" Kurt grunted, still not at all comfortable with her proximity to him.

"Whatever," Kitty sighed after a long tense pause. It was then that Kurt really got a good look at her expression. She looked very sad and worn out, nothing like her usual bright cheery self.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked hesitantly.

"Hmm? Oh, I'll be fine. Eventually." Kitty mumbled, repositioning herself on his bed so that she was resting her back against his side.

"What do you mean by that?" He wondered warily.

"Exactly what it sounds like." She replied.

"That's not really an answer," he complained. "Now what's wrong?"

"Nothing is _wrong_; it's just that I'll have to help you pack your bags in a few hours." Kitty replied finally.

"Pack my bags?" He repeated slowly, not really comprehending what she had told him. Then it hit him, he was being sent away. He immediately tied this into Mr. Logan's attack and came to a conclusion. "How was I bad? What did I do wrong?" He asked, his voice high and strained with rising panic.

"You weren't bad and you didn't do anything wrong. It's just that, it's over, there's nothing left to do." She said softly and calmly, though she remained facing away from him.

"I-I don't understand." He half-whimpered. Somehow, he doubted that Mr. Logan would've come after him when he was naked unless he'd done something terrible.

"Logan found all the information he required, he didn't really need us to do any investigating of our own. Now the mission is done and you have to go back. Your flight is sometime tomorrow." She explained in a dull, empty voice.

Kurt blinked, bewildered by her seemingly odd statements. _Logan__ found all the information he required? We weren't needed?_ _It's over? _For a long minute, he failed to understand. Then it all sunk in and made more sense to him. The mission was completed and now he was being sent back. Now he really felt sick. His eyes stung and his vision was blurry as his trembling arms curled around Kitty's waist. He buried his face into her back and struggled to breathe normally. For some unknown reason, his breath kept catching on its way in and out of him. But he really didn't focus on what was going on with his body, his thoughts centered around one sentence.

_But I don't want it to be over, I don't want to go back..._


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Back to the Way Things Were**

He couldn't quite recall when it started. Perhaps it began when the doors to the underground complex clanged shut behind him. Maybe it was when he boarded his second flight or earlier on his first. Or maybe it started before he even reached the O'Hare airport. He didn't know and it didn't really matter anyway. All that mattered was that it happened.

Somehow, some way, he was slipping away. Where he was slipping really wasn't important. All that was important was that he was slowly but surely going away, away to somewhere sheltered, somewhere safe. Here, where ever 'here' was, no one could touch him, no one could hurt him, and that was good. In this strange place that he could not name he felt nothing and if he could feel nothing he had no fear.

He was almost there completely by the time the soldiers that were escorting him led him into the General's office. There, sitting behind the old oak desk, was the silver-haired General Arnold S. Grün. He sat there in his dress uniform decorated with many colored ribbons and shiny medals reading some report out of a manila folder. Numbly, he brought himself to attention and waited as more and more of him drained away, like the sand rushing down to the bottom of an hourglass. Then he was noticed.

_"Ah, DX-0, you've finally made it back. So how did things go?"_ The General asked pleasantly, but he wasn't fooled. He knew better than to speak his mind. Such answers warranted punishment.

_"The mission was successful sir."_ He replied emotionlessly.

_"So I have read, but did you enjoy yourself while you were away?"_ The General pressed lightly, his expression still open and friendly.

_"It was fine sir."_ He replied tonelessly.

_"Did you buy any souvenirs or go sight-seeing?"_ Grün asked with perhaps and edge of desperation to his voice.

_"No sir."_ Was his response.

_"Did you do anything outside of your mission at all?"_ The General sighed, suddenly looking much older.

_"No sir."_ He replied in the usual calm monotone.

_"Alright, alright."_ The General sighed. The older man tiredly studied the papers in the folder on his desk before he came to some decision. _"Go on; follow Juli back to your quarters."_

_"Yes sir."_ He replied and turned stiffly to follow the cold muscular woman out of the office.

As he walked after the silent woman down the corridors something in him tried desperately to rebel. On the outside he looked the same as he always did. Eyes forward and barely focused, gait smooth and controlled, and face totally blanked of all expression and emotion. But inside, inside he was striking out at the gray concrete that had turned to the mist that dissolved him.

He _shouldn't _slip away. He _shouldn't _disappear quietly. He _shouldn't _forget. Maybe things were different now. General Schwarzbaum, the monster that haunted his every motion, was gone now. He was gone forever and maybe General Grün was different. Maybe they would let him be himself. Maybe he would find some friends, real friends, among his fellow Mutants here. _Maybe it would be better._

But in the end he couldn't win against himself, against his fear. As he reached his cell and was locked inside, all the internal turmoil had been resolved. Juli silently snarled at him, but he didn't react. She appeared to be infuriated and slammed the door in his face. It didn't bother him though; very soon nothing would bother him. He seated himself on his simple cot, stared at the wall, and his loss of self continued.

By the time an hour had passed, there was nothing left. Gone were emotions. Gone were feelings. Gone were unnecessary thoughts. Gone was his personality. Gone were all of his un-needed memories. Gone was his identity. Gone was everything that made him unique.

Kurt Wagner was no more.

There is only DX-0.

**- END -**


End file.
